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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27841195">A Week to (Try and) Remember</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Theukon_dos/pseuds/Theukon_dos'>Theukon_dos</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>The Owl House (Cartoon)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Background Skarlow, Does this count as Blight Parent fluff?, F/F, F/M, Fucking Fae, Gay panics galore, I'll add more of these tags when they're relevent, Luz isn't that oblivious, Not actually fucking though, they're just dicks.</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-02</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-09</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 21:01:34</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>9</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>23,129</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27841195</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Theukon_dos/pseuds/Theukon_dos</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>An ancient tome, a new glyph, no way to translate, what could go wrong?</p><p>A lot, actually, As Luz and Amity learn after waking up a week later with no recollection of what happened.</p><p>Now, It's a matter of Figuring out what the hell happened, and living with some of the fallout.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Amity Blight &amp; Edric Blight &amp; Emira Blight, Amity Blight/Luz Noceda, Eda Clawthorne &amp; Luz Noceda, Edric Blight/Viney, Willow Park/Skara</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>47</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>210</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. The Glyph</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Alright. First fan fiction, here we go.</p><p>I'm fairly happy with how this first chapter turned out, though I'll probably cringe a bit when looking back on it in the future.</p><p>I'm going to try and update it weekly (no promises), though I might speed things up a bit for the first few chapters just to get things rolling.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"Ooooooooooh!" Exclaimed Luz.<br/>"Find something?" asked Amity.</p><p>The Two Witchlings sat alone in Luz's room. They have a test on Monday, and thus had agreed to study together.<br/>Well, Amity had agreed to study. Since Luz couldn't do magic the traditional way, she could only really be tested on the written portions of the assignments.<br/>And so, she usually ended up with a lot more free time than her peers, despite having to juggle 9 different tracks.<br/>Tonight was no different. After she was confident that she would be able to pass, she sat down and started rummaging through Eda's old magic books, looking for anything that might offer her new spells.</p><p>"Yep!" the young human reprised as she turned the book around. Within it was what was undeniably a glyph. One more advanced and detailed than Amity has ever seen her draw.<br/>"What does it do?"<br/>"Beats me, Unless you can read ancient demon tongue". Needless to say, Amity can not read it.<br/>"Well, I guess we gotta find out the hard way" Muttered the human as she began to copy the glyph onto a piece of Paper.<br/>"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Squeaked Amity.<br/>"It'll be fine! When's the last time testing out a new glyph caused any problems?".<br/>Amity couldn't argue with such a claim. Despite how wild the young human could be, She rarely ever caused any damage when she didn't mean to, especially once she got a better grasp on how glyphs functioned<br/>"You ready?"<br/>Amity nodded in agreement<br/>"3... 2... 1!" she yelled. As Luz tapped the Symbol on the paper, it began to glow a deep purple, shining brighter and brighter.<br/>Luz could have sworn she heard laughter coming from all around her, before everything faded to black.</p><hr/><p>"Uuuurrrrrrrg." Luz may have been a morning person, but that didn't mean she was always quick to wake up.<br/>She lied there a few moments more, before finally opening her eyes and taking note of the situation.<br/>she noticed was that she was in the living room. "odd" she thought, given how she activated the glyph in the bedroom.</p><p>A lump formed in her throat as her face flashed with a blazing heat when she Noticed Amity.<br/>Not only was the witchling lying on top of her, sleeping peacefully with her head across Luz's chest. But she was <em>stunning</em>.<br/>Her hair was down, causing the green strands to flow loosely over her head and exposing the brown roots at the base of her hair, and she wore a dress that seemed to be made entirely out of giant flower petals, Each the size of a small dinner plate, carefully overlapping<br/>each other to form a soft, vibrant garment with dazzling shades of orange, red, and yellow.</p><p>The sudden realization of her own embarrassment is the only reason Luz looked down and noticed her own clothes<br/>Luz wore a suit made of tightly-woven peacock feathers, the Blues and green weaving together made the colors shift depending on how you looked at it<br/>and it was all brought together by buttons and cufflinks made from tiny hibiscus flowers. Despite how formal it was, it was quite easily the most comfortable thing Luz had ever worn</p><p>Before Luz could ponder why they where so well dressed, Amity began to stir from her own peaceful slumber.<br/>"Good morning, sleepyhead" whispered Luz<br/>"good morning..." muttered Amity<br/>"Sleep well?"<br/>"Very well, actua-" Before Amity could finish her sentence, she realized just what, or rather, <em>who</em> she was sleeping on.<br/>Her face flushed a bright crimson. The fact that she was too embarrassed to move didn't exactly calm her nerves.<br/>"W-What happened last night?" she was finally able to sputter out.<br/>"Sleep glyph maybe?"<br/>"Maybe. what time is it anyways?"<br/>Luz grabbed her phone to check the time. "Seven", she said after a moment.<br/>"Too early" yawned Amity as she lied back down.<br/>Luz put her phone back down to join her, When something caught her eye.<br/>Sunlight, filtering through the window.<br/><em>Orange</em> sunlight.<br/>With a heavy sense of dread in the pit of her stomach, Luz once again pulled out her phone to check the time.<br/>"Uhhhh, Amity?"<br/>"Hmmmm?"<br/>"It's not seven AM, It's seven <em>PM</em>"</p><p>"WHAT?" That was enough to get Amity to scramble off of Luz. "How powerful was that sleep glyph?!"<br/>"Really strong, apparently"<br/>"And what are we wearing?" Amity was about to ask, Had it not been for the shouting she heard on the other side of the door.</p><p>"We already checked the library!"<br/>"You know that's where they like to be though. maybe we just missed them"<br/>"They could be anywhere on the island for all we know. It's not like they're just going to magically show up back at the-"</p><p>It was at this moment where the front door flung open, As Eda, Edric, Emira, and Lilith all stormed through, only to stop in their tracks at the sight of Luz and Amity on the couch.</p><p>"-House", Lilith finished</p><p>"Luz!" Cried Eda and Lilith.<br/>"Amity!" Cried Emira and Edric in unison as the whole party charged over to the couch.</p><p>"Thank the titan you're alright!" Emira shouted.</p><p>"Never vanish on me like that again kid" said Eda as she gave luz a massive hug.</p><p>Both Luz and Amity stare at the party in confusion.</p><p>"What are you guys talking about?" Asked Luz.</p><p>"Did the twins put you up to this?" Amity said as she glared towards her siblings.</p><p>"Put us up to what?" Eda asked, clearly just as confused as the children in front of her.</p><p>"Wait..." Edric said, slowly putting the pieces together. "Do you not remember what happened?"</p><p>Luz shook her head. "I found a new glyph in a book last night, activated it, and then we woke up on the couch."</p><p>The others in the room slowly looked at each other, clearly knowing something the two witchlings didn't.</p><p>"That Wasn't last night" Eda said, Finally breaking the tense silence.</p><p>"You two have been missing for a week."</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. The Week</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"A WEEK!?!" exclaimed Luz.<br/>
"Yep", replied Eda. "We where worried sick when you vanished out of thin air. Not even Hooty knew where you went"</p><p>Luz put her head into her hands while Amity just sat and stared blankly.</p><p>"Welp," The human began. "Atleast it can't get any worse"<br/>
Eda chuckled. "you really belive that?"<br/>
"No" Luz resigned. "What happened?"<br/>
"Lots of things, actually," something that didn't help the human's mood. "Lots of weird stuff has gone down sense you two went missing, well, more weird stuff than usual. And apparently, Lord Bonehead thinks you two are responsible for it." She reached into her hair and pulled out a paper to show the kids.<br/>
"A wanted poster" Amity said bleakly. "Fantastic".</p><p><br/>
On the paper was Luz and Amity, drawn similarly to Eda's own wanted poster. Luz was drawn with a fire glyph in one hand and a light glyph in the other, and Amity was drawn with a large abomination rising behind her. The bottom of the paper said "Luz the Human and Amity Blight"<br/>
"One Trillion Snails?" Luz said in Awe. "What the heck happened?"<br/>
"Read that again" Eda said, with an unnerving amount of Monotone in her voice.<br/>
Both Witchlings took a closer look at the reward, before their eyes shot open out of fear.<br/>
"TEN TRILLION SNAILS?!?!" Amity finally blurted out.<br/>
"Technically, 5 trillion each"<br/>
"NOT HELPING!"</p><p>Both Luz and Amity leaned back into the chair as they absorbed this information. Eda had been the most wanted criminal on the Boiling Isles for most of her adult life. But now, suddenly, These two children had 5 times the bounty as her after only a week? How could such a thing happen?</p><p>"Hey" said King, having come down stairs from all the shouting. "It'll be fine. Technically, You where already wanted for associating with Eda."<br/>
Luz seemed to perk up a bit. "Thanks King. But what about Amity?" she said, looking at her friend nervously.<br/>
"Well, We'll just have to teach her a few tricks."<br/>
"Thank you" is all the green-haired witch could muster.</p><p>"So what do we do now?" said Amity after a few more minutes of silence.<br/>
"First" Emira interjected "We Tell your friends that you're all right. They've been worried sick sense you've been missing"<br/>
"Good call" Amity said as she went to grab Eda's crystal ball.<br/>
"I got it" Luz said before she could get up.</p><p>Nobody quite knows what happened next, Whether it be pure instinct, Cosmic interference, or Divine intervention. But there was no doubt about one thing. With a quick twirl of her finger, Luz the human, who had been chastised and ridiculed for her inability to do magic ever since arriving on the boiling isles, cast a small spell circle and summoned the crystal ball to the living room with a small plop. Despite everything that had happened, The stunned silence that followed was easily the longest that had happened that night.</p><p>"Luz..?" Edric said meekly. "did you just-?"<br/>
"Only one way to find out" Luz responded, Her voice was quite, just as all the others. But the spark of hope in her voice was undeniable. With a deep breath, She slowly dragged her finger in a small circle. And as she moved her finger, A line was drawn in the air. Pure white with a rainbow sheen. Once the circle finally connected, a small, unassuming light was formed. Everyone in the room marveled at this light, who's very existence was an anomaly.</p><p>"I can do magic..." Luz's Eyes Widened as it finally caught up to her. "I CAN DO MAGIC!" She cheered!<br/>
"Calm down kid. I know you're excited, But you don't just <em>get</em> magic. Something big happened while you where out."</p><p>"you're right, Eda" As excited as Luz was to have her own magic, the fact that it happened after being missing for a week was definitly concerning.</p><p>"You two make your calls" Lilith said. "I'll try and find that book you where looking at." Luz told her it's name and she quietly went up stairs.</p><p>The Call with Willow and Gus went smoothly. The both of them where just glad that Luz and Amity where alright. And both of them watched in awe as Luz summoned a light spell all on her own.<br/>
Willow, however, did notice something new under the bright light.<br/>
"Hey Luz, what's that on your finger?" she asked.<br/>
Luz looked down at her hand and saw what Willow was talking about. On her finger rested a brilliant ring, pure platinum in the shape of a flower with a deep purple gemstone embedded in the center.<br/>
"Huh. Must be part of the outfit" Luz pondered, before something caught her eye. "Amity! You've got one too!"<br/>
Sure enough, Amity wore an identical ring on her own finger.<br/>
"That's odd" she muttered. "We should get that looked at tomorrow"<br/>
"Good idea"</p><p>Not long after, The witchlings could hear voices coming from the background of the crystal ball.<br/>
"That's dinner" Willow said. "I should to get going. We're having snapdragon Salad tonight!"<br/>
"Good taste" remarked Luz.<br/>
"I should get going to. It's getting pretty late" said Gus.<br/>
"alright. See you around"</p><p>Both of them sat in silence for a moment after shutting off the crystal ball.</p><p>"Me and the Twins should be going to, we wouldn't want to get-" Pure, existential dread began to creep across Amity's face<br/>
"No, nonononononononono" Amity cried as she shot up from the couch. "My parents are going to kill me!"<br/>
Everyone in the room shared a tense look.<br/>
"Amity..." Edric started<br/>
"you might want to sit down for this" finished Emira.<br/>
As Amity sat back down, Eda ushered everyone but the Blights and Luz out of the room.</p><p>"Amity, A few nights after you went missing, something... Happened" Emira said carefully.<br/>
"They already disowned me, haven't they?" Amity choked<br/>
"No" Edric continued. "At some point during the night, the manor... Caught on fire"<br/>
"What?!"<br/>
"We're not sure how it happened. Me and Ed where out when it started. All we know is that whatever it was bypassed the protection spells."<br/>
The room went Silent for what felt like hours.<br/>
"Was anybody else?..." Amity trailed off.<br/>
Emira shook her head. "Just the two of them"<br/>
The room fell into a stiff silence.<br/>
"Amity, I-" Luz began. But she didn't know what she could possibly say. So instead, she simply pulled Amity into a gentle embrace.</p><p>Amity knew she should be distraught. And she was certainly shaken, as anyone who was just told of their parents' death would be. However, Amity couldn't think of a single happy memory spent with them. Every birthday was just an excuse for her parents to boast. Every bit of praise had been for her accomplishments, or to get her to work harder.</p><p><br/>
Alador and Odalia never showed their daughter any love, and in return, They received no love from her. Even in death.</p><p>"I'll be fine" Amity finally said after a few minutes of Silence. "Where are we going to go now?"<br/>
"Me and Em have been staying here. After you two went missing, Eda was more than happy to keep us after the manor was destroyed."</p><p>Eda, although summoned by her name, re-entered the room. "And you guys can stay aslong as you like" she said before turning to Amity.<br/>
"That includes you too, we don't really have time to clear out any rooms though, So you'll have to sleep with Luz for now"<br/>
Amity's face flashed a bright Scarlet. "S-sleep with Luz?"<br/>
"Oooh, It'll be like a Sleepover!" The night's heavy tone still hung in the air, But not even that was enough to stifle her excitement at the idea.<br/>
"here, let's go get you set up" Luz said as she dragged Amity up the stairs. Quite literally at that, given how the Girl's legs where barely working.</p><p>The Three remaining Witches shared a knowing glance and a chuckle. It was going to be awhile before another room could get cleared out.<br/>
"You two ought to get to bed" Eda said. "we've got a long day tomorrow, And with how many people are under this roof now, we're going to have to have <em>that</em> talk"<br/>
The twins laughed, "Mittens sure is going to enjoy that" Edric remarked.<br/>
"The same goes for you two" Eda quickly snapped. "we all know what Illusion magic can do"<br/>
The twins turned a bright scarlet, something that apparently ran in the family.<br/>
"Go on, git" said Eda as she shooed the twins upstairs. "Heh, kids these days"</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Sorry if that one was a bit shakier than the last. A lot of stuff can happen over the span of the week.</p><p>I'll try and release the next chapter on Tuesday, at which point I'll slow down to weekly releases now that the ball's rolling.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. The Search</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The whole house was up at the crack of dawn. Hooty made sure of that much.<br/>
For the most part, the previous night went smoothly, though Lilith wasn't able to find Luz's book, which was a problem.<br/>
Luz also got Amity set up next to her own sleeping bag, and when the green-haired witch reminded Eda that they had just woke up a couple hours before, she was more than happy to supply them with a sleep spell.<br/>
Amity was thankful. She didn't think her heart would be able to handle such a sudden, wide-awake sleepover with Luz.</p><p><br/>
Once everyone was down stairs and had eaten, They gathered around the living room to discuss what's next.<br/>
"Alright, first thing's first" Eda began "Luz, do you remember what the glyph you drew looked like?"<br/>
Luz's face morphed into one of deep focus. After a few minutes, she finally shook her head in defeat.<br/>
"Sorry Eda. It was a complicated glyph, but even then..."<br/>
Eda stopped her "Don't worry about it kid. I didn't really expect you to"<br/>
Amity piped up a moment later. "What about a memory spell like we used to fix Willow's memories?". She cringed slightly when remembering that it was <em>her</em> fault they had to do that in the first place<br/>
"Oh, I can fix your memories, Amity!" Luz said with a joyful glee.<br/>
Amity's entire face turned a pure scarlet at the prospect. "NO! No. no. you can't do that. you might end up in the memory of that time I was... Murdered! yeah, murdered"<br/>
She quickly shut her mouth after realizing what she said.<br/>
Before Luz could question it, the twins quickly stepped in.<br/>
"Me and Ed could do it"<br/>
Amity's face continued to do it's best tomato impression, albeit for entirely different reasons.<br/>
"Besides, mittens" Edric returned "We've already read your diary"<br/>
"<em>fine</em>" Amity sighed in defeat. "Just don't touch anything. got it?"<br/>
"Blight's honor" the twins said in unison.</p><p>"Alright, you two ready?"<br/>
The twins nodded in approval.<br/>
With a quick twirl of her staff, Eda turned the two eldest blights into specks of light and sent them into Amity's head.</p><p>Well, Tried to send them into Amity's head.</p><p>The moment they entered, Amity cried out in pain and released a flash of light. A moment later the twins came blasting out of her head and into the front door.</p><p>"Well that's not gonna work" Said Eda through gritted teeth.</p><p>"What... Was that?" Amity asked as she rubbed her head. Thankfully the sudden headache was rapidly fading.</p><p>"That was a Mind Ward" said Lilith. "We used them in the Emperor's coven in order to avoid having coven secrets stolen. Though How you got one, and how we get rid of it is another matter entirely"</p><p>"HOOOOOOOOOT"</p><p>The rest of the room turned to the door, which promptly collapsed from the impact and the twin's weight against it to reveal Willow and Gus standing behind it.</p><p>"We, uhhh, came as soon as we could"</p><p>"Thanks kids. You two sit down, it looks like we need a new plan"</p><p>Once Hooty was put back in place and the twins had their headaches dealt with, it was decided that the best course of action would be to investigate some of the happenings from the last week.</p><p>Luz, Willow, and Gus would take Owlbert to Bat Queen's lair. A ton of creatures where seen fleeing from Belos's castle towards her forest.</p><p>Eda and Edric would visit Hexside, both to see if there's anything odd there, and so Eda could make sure it was still safe for Luz and Amity to attend.</p><p>And finally, Amity and Emira would visit the ruins of Blight manor to try and find anything that could give them a clue.</p><p><br/>
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~<br/>
The flight to Bat Queen's forest went by smoothly. Owlbert knew the way, and Luz stayed above the tree line for this flight (she didn't need to arrive at Bat queen's lair with <em>another</em> crack in Owlbert)</p><p>"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Gus asked. "You remember what happened last time we where here"</p><p>"It'll be fine" replied Luz. "It's just a quick trip in and out to ask her a few questions."</p><p><br/>
Once they touched down, the matriarch of the forest herself was quick to greet them.</p><p>"WHO DARES ENTER MY- Oh, It is you. Hello Luz the Human" she said.</p><p>"Hi Bat Queen" She said while trying to calm her breath. She wasn't really sure how good terms she and Bat Queen where after their last encounter.<br/>
"We're sorry to bother you, but did a bunch of Palismans enter your forest within the last week?"</p><p>"Ye ye, a few days ago"</p><p>"Did they say why they came? It's been a weird week, and we're trying to figure out what happened"</p><p>Bat Queen Recounted how the Palismans where trapped in Belos' castle. When suddenly the wall of their chamber was broken in by 3 figures. the first two where wearing cloaks and masks, but were fairly short.<br/>
The second was impossibly tall, nearly 15 feet. She wore a deep purple cloak, and while she didn't wear a mask, not a single palisman could tell what her face looked like.</p><p>"think that the two figures could be you and Amity?" Willow whispered.<br/>
"Maybe" Luz pondered. "It would explain atleast part of the bounties"</p><p>The group thanked Bat Queen for her time and made haste back to the house. Unfortunately with more questions than answers.</p><p><br/>
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~<br/>
"Alright. I'm going to talk to Bump." Eda told Edric. "check around to see if anything's off"</p><p>Edric nodded and began to check around the school. He didn't really know what he was looking for, so he mostly just popped his head into any classrooms he passed by,<br/>
and asked any teachers he found if anything weird had happened during the last week. A few teachers did have stories to tell, though most of them seemed entirely at the fault of the students.</p><p>Eventually, Edric found himself in the school's stables. As he looked around, He couldn't help but admire all the animals. Gryphons, cockatrices, lesser Basilisks.<br/>
It was impressive just how many different creatures the students at school could keep.</p><p>After about 10 minutes of looking through the stables, something eventually caught his eye in the rafters. A quick spell circle later, and he conjured a glowing rope to climb up with.</p><p>"Looking for something?" A voice called out as he reached the top. His focus broke and the rope dissipated, Causing him to fall into the hay pile that had thankfully been dragged under him.<br/>
As he opened his eyes after the impact, he looked up and saw a woman. She was short in stature with a bit of body fat covering well-toned muscles, and was wearing one of the biggest hair buns Edric had ever seen.</p><p>"Are you alright?" she said.<br/>
Edric swallowed as he felt blood rushing to his face. "Fine, thanks." he said as he stood up and offered his hand. "I'm Edric"<br/>
"Viney" she said as she shook it.<br/>
"So, what brings you to school on a saturday?"<br/>
"Just looking around" he responded in ernesty. "Has anything weird happened over the last week?"<br/>
Viney pondered the question for a moment. "Now that you mention it. Someone has been feeding the animals at night, and whoever it is hasn't been using the feed in the warehouse."</p><p>Edric made a mental note of this and looked back up towards the rafters.<br/>
"I think I saw something up there, could you give me a hand?"<br/>
"Sure". Viney let out a shriek whistle, and soon after, a juvenile Griffon came barreling down the hallway.<br/>
"Alright puddles, think you can give this guy a lift?"<br/>
The young griffon cooed and threw Edric onto her back. and carefully made her way upto the rafters. Once up their, Edric finally figured out what caught his eye.<br/>
A dense cluster of vines, covered in vibrant; multi-colored flowers with shifting hues, had rooted themselves in the rafters. And they where growing without any soil, water, or sunlight.<br/>
Edric picked a few of the flowers before heading back down. He'd ask Willow about them, see if she knows what they are.</p><p>Once he got back down, he gently got off and gave Puddles a scratch under the chin.<br/>
"you're pretty good with her" Viney remarked.<br/>
"Thanks. I actually wanted to be in the beast keeping track when I was younger. Still sometimes wish I had gone through with it"<br/>
"Well, what's stopping you?" Viney asked.<br/>
Edric looked at her with a Puzzled expression.<br/>
"You said you wanted to be in beast keeping, so why didn't choose it?"<br/>
"Parents." Edric responded in a Monotone voice. "They weren't happy when I said that's the one I wanted to join. Called it "Peasant's work" So I ended up doing Illusions with my sister."<br/>
He let out a brief scoff. "Ofcourse, they don't really have a say in the matter anymore."<br/>
Viney shifted uncomfortably when she remembered how the newspaper announced that Blight Manor had burnt down.</p><p>"Besides" Edric continued. "Even if I did want to swap to beast keeping, I couldn't just abandon Emira like that."</p><p>Viney thought for a moment before shrugging her shoulders. "You could always multi-track"<br/>
"What?" Edric gawked. He didn't think that was allowed.<br/>
"Yeah, Bump's been allowing it sinse we took out that Basilisk. I'm in both Healing and Beast keeping. Jerbo's in Plant and Abomination, and Barcus is in Potions and Oracle."<br/>
Now that she mentioned it, Luz's uniform did have every track color on it. He's not sure how he hasn't questioned it before today.<br/>
"Is there extra Homework?"<br/>
Viney smiled at him. "Do you do your homework in the first place?"<br/>
"Fair enough."<br/>
Edric gave one last scratch to Puddles before heading back towards the Entrance. "Eda's probably done by now. see you Monday?"<br/>
"you can count on it." Viney said with a Wink.</p><p>Edric could feel the pink crawling up his cheeks. He quickly turned around and started walking back towards the exit. "Later!"</p><p>When he got back to Bump's office, he found Eda standing right out side with Bump in the doorway.<br/>
"The children will be under my protection aslong as they're on the premise, Miss Clawthorne."<br/>
"Thanks Bump, and I'll let you know when Luz has enough control over her magic to do the more physical assignments." She laughed to herself "All the help you've been almost makes me regret all the trouble I caused."<br/>
Bump raised his brow. "Almost?"<br/>
A smirk broke along Eda's face. "It was still fun"<br/>
"Hey Eda" Edric interjected as he approached.<br/>
"Hey kid. Find anything?"<br/>
Edric nodded. "I'll tell you on the way back." he said before turning to Bump. "Is it alright if I talk to you for a few minutes sir?"<br/>
"Ofcourse, come inside"<br/>
Eda looked at the two with a bit of confusion, But shrugged and started leaning against the wall.</p><p>Edric came out a few minutes later holding his Uniform. Eda wondered why he needed it, before she realized that the pant legs where now Orange.</p><p>A smile broke across her face as she rustled the boy's hair. "Glad to see you branching out. Planning to become a Wild Witch like your wise old mentor Eda the owl lady?"<br/>
Edric chucked as he pulled her hand off. "We'll see when we cross that bridge"</p><p>The two left the school and walked out, with Edric actually a bit excited for the school week to start.</p><p>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~</p><p>The walk to the ruins of Blight manor felt like hours. Neither sister knew what to say.</p><p>Amity knew that the fire had been bad. The manor had a myriad of protective spells on it. so for the fire to have burnt the mansion down regardless of them, it had to have been <em>bad</em>.</p><p>But even that hadn't been enough to prepare Amity for just how bad the damage was.</p><p>"There's nothing left..."</p><p>All that was left of Blight manor was ash and a few wayward walls. The hand-crafted windows, the fine masonry. All of it was gone.</p><p>As they approached, Amity leaned up against the remains of one of the walls, only for it to give out under her.<br/>
"What the?" she said as she quickly regained her balance. A quick tap confirmed her suspicion. The moment she made contact with the ruined walls, the stone she touched crumbled into ash and blew away.</p><p>"Can fires even do that?" Amity asked herself.</p><p>"HEY! I FOUND SOMETHING!" Emira called.</p><p>Amity walked over to Emira to see what she was looking at. In the remains of the Fire place, a grand structure that was enchanted and could heat the whole house, grew a dense cluster of vines. One that was covered in a myriad of Orange and Red flowers that where constantly shifting hues.<br/>
"That's odd" said Emira.<br/>
"We should take some back for Willow to look at."<br/>
Emira nodded in agreement before picking a few of the flowers and putting them into her pocket.<br/>
"C'mon, let's keep looking."</p><p><br/>
It was terrifying how little of the manor remained after the fire. Even things that should have had no trouble surviving had been burnt to ash. But they kept looking.<br/>
Amity flipped a piece of debris and caught her breath.<br/>
"EMIRA!" she cried as the older sister ran over.<br/>
Underneath the rubble sat a large trunk, covered in ash. A quick wipe from Emira revealed the name underneath.<br/>
"THE BLIGHT'S BIG BOX OF PRANKS"<br/>
Inside where dozens of keepsakes the twins had kept from their practical jokes over the years. Photos of their victim's reactions, bottled and preserved keepsakes, years of memories and jokes.<br/>
All perfectly safe from the fire.</p><p>"Ed's gonna flip when he sees this..." Emira said.</p><p>As Emira continued looking through her stuff, something caught Amity's eye.<br/>
An unassuming lump with a tinge of cyan and gold was sticking out of the ash.</p><p>As Amity picked it up and cleaned it, a lump began to form in her throat.<br/>
"My jewelry box"<br/>
She opened it, and inside where all the things that she wanted to have home, but didn't want her parents to see. Photos of her and her friends. a crumpled piece of pink paper, and...<br/>
Out of the box, she pulled her Grom tiara. It's gold rim and pink crystals glowing just as vibrantly as they did the night she had her dance.<br/>
Tears welled up in her eyes, and she didn't try to stop them. Every worry she had about her parents finding out, about them forcing her to cut ties with Luz, and the fear of what they'd do if she said no,<br/>
all of that was over now. Amity's Manor may have burnt down. But with it? so did all of the worst parts of her life.</p><p>Emira saw her sisters tears and put her arms around her. "It'll be alright, mittens."<br/>
"You're right" Amity sniffled. "It will be"</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. The Flower</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The Blight sisters were the last to return to the house. Once Amity had calmed down, Emira used a quick illusion spell to clean her up, and they did one last look through before heading home.</p><p>Once they got back, Everyone recounted about what they found.</p><p>Luz described how the creatures seen fleeing from the castle where Palismans, and how they where rescued by 3 mysterious figures. The fact that a third figure was there and towered over the other two was a point of concern.</p><p>Emira described how the fire had destroyed nearly everything, but miraculously left what little the siblings truly cared about intact. As she expected, Edric got really excited when their prank box survived.</p><p>It was Edric's story that drew the most attention, however.</p><p>"Not much happened at Hexside, but apparently someone's been feeding the animals in secret." he continued as he pulled a flower out of his pocket. "Also, I found a bunch of these growing in the rafters."<br/>
Emira's eyes opened wide when he showed them. "Oh yeah, we found some of those too!" she reached into her own pocket and pulled out the flowers she had grabbed at Blight Manor.</p><p>They weren't quite identical. Edric's flowers had a much broader color range than Emira's flowers, which had more reds and oranges. Other than that, they where definitly the same flower.</p><p>"Do you recognize them Willow?"</p><p>Willow inspected them thoroughly, Before shaking her head. "Sorry guys, I've never seen a flower like this before."</p><p>The twins where about to throw in the towel when King climbed onto the table.</p><p>"Let me see!" he cried. The twins handed him their flowers as he gave them a close look. "Oh no" He said as his eyes shot wide open. He ran up the stairs as he continued muttering.<br/>
Luz and Eda gave each other an uneasy glance. King may have been a bit egotistical and bold, but it also meant that he was hard to scare. If something had caused him to show such fear like that, then it must be <em>bad</em>.</p><p>A few minutes later, King came back down holding a large book. The emerald green cover and golden inlays would have made it looked inviting, had it also not been covered in scratches and blood.<br/>
King set the book down on the table before rapidly flipping through it with his free hand, muttering to himself as he did so. Eventually, he found the page he was looking for. On it was a sketch of the same tangles of vines that the twins had found the flowers growing on.</p><p><br/>
"Nyarlatholillies" King began as he read the book. "Ancient, rare, and magical flowers that can only be found in places that have been exposed to Fae magic." The fear in King's eyes and voice was unmistakable.<br/>
"this is bad Luz, real bad."</p><p>"What's a Fae?" The human asked.</p><p>"The worst of the worst." King quickly shot back. "Fairies, Pixies, Redcaps, and Trolls. The Fae are beings of pure entropy. They revel in causing chaos and disorder wherever they go"</p><p>"They can't be all bad." Edric interjected. "They did feed the animals at school after all."</p><p>King shook his head. "Even the most altruistic Fae desire chaos above all else. You and your parents weren't on good terms, right?"<br/>
Edric nodded in response.<br/>
"Right, Now would you say the best way to deal with that problem would be BURNING DOWN YOUR HOUSE WITH THEM INSIDE?"<br/>
The Blight siblings shifted uncomfortably at King's outburst. None of them willing to admit that the small demon was right.<br/>
"Also, If you've watched <em>any</em> nature documentaries, You'd know that feral demons are right up a Fae's alley."</p><p>King took a deep breath as he turned to Luz.<br/>
"This is bad, Luz. If you made a pact with a Fae, then you could be in serious danger. They could have offered you magic in exchange for all sorts of things. Your soul, your first born, your virginity!"<br/>
<em>BONK</em><br/>
"KING!" Eda cried after she smacked the demon with her staff.<br/>
"Watch it. I'm already down a horn" said King as he rubbed his skull. "Besides, that's what happened to my cousin"</p><p>Luz and Amity's face flashed scarlet after King's remark. But Eda was quick to interject before things got any more awkward.</p><p>"So. We know we're dealing with a Fae. Any idea what kind it is?"</p><p>King shook his head. "Sorry, I'll have to do more research"</p><p>Eda sighed as she pinched the bridge of her nose. "Right, and Mittens, did you ever get that ring checked out?"</p><p>Amity smacked herself in the forehead, not even noticing what Eda had called her. Between all the crying and relief, she entirely forgot to visit a jeweler.</p><p>"No" she said meekly. "But I know a guy. He's closed Sundays, but we can visit him after school"</p><p>Eda nodded in approval. "Well, in that case, I guess we got nothing better to do for today. Why don't we see what Luz's newfound powers are capable of."<br/>
Eyes around the room lit up as they rushed to the back yard for testing. Only King stayed behind as he kept reading.</p>
<hr/><p>Turns out, Luz's magic was <em>weird</em>.</p><p>First, She still didn't have a bile sack, as a quick X-ray spell from Gus figured out.</p><p>"Can we focus please?" Amity jiped. Gus had gotten absorbed in observing Luz's internal biology, and was starting to look in uncomfortable places.</p><p>"Sorry, sorry."</p><p>Second. Luz's magic is powerful, But she doesn't seem to have a lot of it. Her spells easily kept up with Willow's plant magic and Gus's illusions. But she went dry after only a few casts.</p><p>Third. Her magic recharges incredibly quickly. While a Witch may have developed large reserves for their magic, It still takes them a good while to recover from using powerful spells.<br/>
Sometimes it may even take a few days if you fully exert yourself.</p><p>Luz though?</p><p>She can use everything in her and be back at full strength in about 15 minutes.<br/>
"Ever seen anything like it Eda?" She asked.<br/>
The elder witch shook her head "Some demons evolved to cast spell circles without a bile sack, but even those guys take a few hours to recharge"</p><p>The rest of the evening was spent training. Luz figured out how to summon blasts of prismatic energy (and may or may not have broken her window in the process), Willow helped Luz summon specific species of plants, Amity helped in the summoning and controlling of Abominations. Gus and Emira summoned targets to aim and and helped Luz with her own illusions, and Edric was...</p><p>Reading?</p><p>Emira called a quick break as they walked over to her brother.</p><p>"What are you doing?" Emira asked.</p><p>"Studying"</p><p>"Since when do you ever actually study?"</p><p>A smug look set itself on Edric's face. he closed the book to reveal a picture of a gryphon on the cover. "Since I decided to Multi-track"</p><p>Edric stood up and cast a quick spell circle in the air. His clothes began to change from top to bottom, Revealing a school uniform with the blue sleeves of the illusion track, And now, the orange leggings of the Beast Keeping track.</p><p>The whole group stared at him wide eyed, Save for Eda, who simply ruffled the young Witch's hair.</p><p>"When did this happen?" Emira asked.</p><p>"Earlier today." Edric said with a shrug. "Ran into another Multi-track student while looking for Clues."</p><p>Amity could have sworn she saw flecks of pink on her brother's face when he mentioned them.</p><p>"Told her about how mom wouldn't let me do Beast keeping, and how mom's not here anymore, so now I'm multi-tracking."<br/>
Edric hesitated for a moment after explaining himself. "<em>mom's not here anymore</em>"? How had he mentioned that so easily? so casually?<br/>
Edric's parents where admittedly the first major losses in his life. His grandparents had died when he and Emira where toddlers, and both Alador and Odalia where single children. But even then, he was pretty sure that your parents dieing isn't something you're supposed to just <em>get over</em>. Much less less than a week after it happened.</p><p>Yet here he is, Feeling more guilty about letting it slip so casually then he is the fact that they actually died.</p><p>Thankfully, before his thoughts could Spiral even deeper, Emira was able to interrupt him with another question.<br/>
"So why did you multitrack instead of just switching to Beast Keeping?"<br/>
His smug smile quickly returned to his face as he pulled his sister into a headlock. "Well I can't just abandon my little sister, now can I?" he said as he ruffled Emira's hair.<br/>
"We're twins, dumbass"</p><p><br/>
A loud chortle erupted from the whole group. So all and all, it was a pretty fun evening. Gus and Willow ended up staying for dinner, but still had to go home once it started to get dark.</p><p>Everyone else went inside. King had pulled several more books out of somewhere, but was currently using them as a bed.<br/>
Eda ended up going to the kitchen for some apple blood, Lilith carefully moved King to the chair as she prepared to clock out for the night.<br/>
The twins retreated to their room, as Emira agreed to help Edric study a bit more so he was ready for beastkeeping on Monday.</p><p> And that just left Luz and Amity, who retreated to their room for the night.</p><p> Once they got up there and got changed, Amity found Luz sitting on her sleeping bag, rocking back and fourth.<br/>
 "So, what do we want to do tonight?" she said, clearly excited for the night ahead.<br/>
 As though on Queue, Amity let out a massive yawn. "Arn't you tired from all that magic?" she asked.</p><p> "No. Not really." Luz's eyebrows began to knit at the realization. "Should I be tired?"</p><p> "Using that much magic should make <em>anyone</em> tired." Amity responded. "Willow and Gus where nearly stumbling by the time they went home."</p><p> "Weird. Well, We can go to sleep if you want to! but I was really excited to be spending the night with you."</p><p> Amity left out a small chuckle. "Luz, We're going to be spending nearly every night together for the next 4 years, <em>atleast</em>. I promise we'll have a fun weekend night together soon enough"</p><p> Luz's downtrodden face quickly bounced back into a smile. "yeah, you're right." she quickly bounced under the covers as Amity turned off the lights.</p><p> "'Night Amity."</p><p> "Goodnight Luz."</p><p> Unfortunately, It wasn't that easy for either of them. The window was still broken from Luz's practice, and with Eda and Lilith having to rely on glyphs, no one knew enough construction magic to fix it. And because of that, It was really, really cold in the room as the night breeze drifted in.</p><p>Amity let out an Audible shudder as a particularly strong gust made it's way into the room.</p><p>"you cold too?" Luz asked.</p><p>"Very. Do you know if there are any extra blankets?"</p><p>Luz sighed in response. "No, I think Lilith's using them all."</p><p>The groan Amity let out Tore a pit into Luz's Stomach. She couldn't just let Amity freeze to death. And frankly, she was pretty cold too.<br/>
After a few moments of thinking, an idea crossed her mind that left her a bit flustered. But she was cold, she was tired, and she really had nothing to loose at that point.</p><p>"What if we Snuggled?" Luz asked.</p><p>She couldn't see very well in the dark, But she was still able to see Amity's form tense up at the suggestion.</p><p>"Sorry if you don't like it. I just thought it might help keep us warm. But we really don't have to if you don't want to, I mean-"<br/>
Amity cut her off. "No, no. I'd like that, actually."</p><p>And so, Luz got out of her sleeping bag and crawled over to the bile of blankets that Amity called a bed.</p><p>As she wrapped her arms around Amity's back, She felt the witchling tense up for a moment before unwinding and settling herself into the human's arms.<br/>
<em>"Alright."</em> Luz thought. <em>"Just two friends platonically sleeping together in order to stay warm. Nothing gay about that at all, right?"</em></p><p>Luz closed her eyes and began to drift off to sleep. She got a whiff of Amity's hair, and it smelled nice. It reminded her a lot of the library and a bit of the abomination goo she once doused herself in.<br/>
As she drifted off to sleep, only one thought floated through her head.</p><p>
  <em>"I could get used to this"</em>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. The Mask</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Before we start, I want to give a shoutout to User <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/j_vie/pseuds/j_vie">j_vie</a> For proofreading this chapter. No more random Capitalizations from here on out! (I hope)</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>            Luz has always been an early riser. A bright, livid ball of energy that always rose with the sun itself. Amity, as it turns out, is not an early riser. At least not when she can help it.</p><p> </p><p>            And so, when Luz awoke this Sunday morning, she found herself in a dilemma. Her arms were still wrapped around Amity, who was currently sleeping like the dead. Truth be told, Luz was quite enjoying the warm embrace. She was contemplating on what to do when she felt Amity tense in her arms.</p><p>The Young witch's face was beginning to contort, and Luz could feel the sweat beginning to bead underneath her pajamas.</p><p>
  
</p><p><em>She must be having a nightmare. </em>Luz realized. Unsure of what to do, she pulled the sleeping witch into a closer, tighter embrace. Within moments, Amity's breathing had steadied out, and the witch fell into a much more peaceful slumber. Luz decided to stay there with her incase Amity ended up having another idea. But she eventually dozes off herself.</p><p> </p><p>            Amity awoke a few hours later. She felt her face flush when she remembered what happened last night. But she was still tired enough to have a lapse of judgement and snuggled deeper into Luz's arms.</p><p>"Good morning." Luz said.</p><p>Amity felt her heart stop for a moment. "Oh! Oh, sorry, I didn't know you were awake."</p><p>"It's cool, I've been awake for a while."</p><p><em>Awhile? </em>Amity thought. <em>Has she been like this the whole time?</em></p><p> </p><p>            "Are you alright?" Luz asked. Amity's flustered expression quickly turned into confusion.</p><p>"Of course. Why would I not be?"</p><p>            "Well, other than the fact that it turns out we may have sold our souls to a troll?" Luz remarked with an air of amusement in her voice, before she regained a serious tone.</p><p>            "You seemed to be having a nightmare earlier."</p><p>Amity took a sigh of relief. "Thanks Luz, but I'm fine. I don't even remember having it."</p><p>            "Alright. But if you even need to talk about it, don't forget that I'm here for you." Luz quickly pulled Amity into an even tighter hug. <em>Titan give me strength.</em> She thought to herself.</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>            "Slept well?" Eda asked as the two girls came down stairs. The two sat down and gave Eda a quick nod before digging into their breakfast. Luz had no idea what it was, and a quick look at Amity poking it with her fork told her that the witchling didn't know either. Well, whatever the mass of Tentacles, fried breading, and general mush was, it was really tasty. Both girls wolfed it down once they got past the initial appearance.</p><p> </p><p>            "So," Luz finally asked once she finished her breakfast. "What's the plan for today?" Eda turned around from the sink. Having to do chores without magic was taking some time to get used to, though she found dish washing surprisingly cathartic. "Well, the twins went into town already. King's still got his snout buried in those books of his. Me and Lilith are going to go gut a trash slug I found earlier."</p><p>That last one resulted in an audible groan from the living room.</p><p>"...Anyways" Eda continued. "I guess you two are free to do whatever you want together."</p><p> </p><p>The two girls sat back down for a moment to consider their options. "We could go into town for the day." Luz suggested.</p><p>"Sounds fun" Amity replied. "I'll go invite Gus and Willow"</p><p>"Nah. They're probably busy today."</p><p>Amity's heart skipped a beat. <em>Just the two of them? In town? Like a date?</em> "I u-uh, I mean are you sure? I'm sure they wouldn't want to miss out, y'know. Going into town like that is a big thing and-" Amity's gay panic was only stopped when a moment of realization swept across her face.</p><p>"Our bounties!"</p><p>Luz cursed herself. "Of course, we can't go into town! I entirely forgot we're the most wanted people on the isles." This train of thought was quickly interrupted by a snort coming from Eda.</p><p>"Kid. You've been wanted by the law ever sense you started living with me. You managed to worm your way into the hearts of just about everyone in Bonesburough. A small bounty on your head ain't gonna change anything."</p><p>Luz laughed at Eda's reminder. "Alright. Good point" she said. "What do you say Amity? Two gal pals spending a day on the town?"</p><p>Amity was pretty sure her heart was about to explode. After what felt like an eternity (it was 2 seconds) she finally found her voice again.</p><p>"YES! Yes, that sounds great"</p><p>Luz pulled her into a massive hug. Yep. Amity's heart was definitely going to explode.</p><p> </p><p>Eda dropped the two of them off in town square before going to meet Lilith at the trash slug.</p><p>"Sooooooo, what do you wanna do first?" Luz asked.</p><p>Amity looked around the town square before spotting one shop in particular. "How about that place?" She said pointed at the dark arts and crafts store. Luz let out an excited squeal before grabbing Amity by the wrist and pulling her to the store.</p><p> </p><p>Inside where all manner of art supplies. brushes, inkwells, Body parts of all shapes and sizes. Luz spotted a crystal ball playing re-runs of "The joy of pain-ting". She stared in awe at all the different materials before her eyes finally landed on</p><p><em>Gasp. </em>"Puffballs!"</p><p> </p><p>Luz dragged Amity over to the large bin of furry orbs. "These have always been my favorite thing to make art with." Before Amity could stop her, she dipped her arms into the bin and pulled out a massive scoop of them. "I wonder what we could use these for? Slippers, Collages, Any ideas?"</p><p>"Uuhhhh, Luz?" Amity stuttered at what the human just did.</p><p> </p><p>"Man, these are so soft" Luz stared in wonder as she began to feel a small pricking at her arm. "And they also bite. Probably should have seen that coming." Amity quickly helped Luz bat the puffballs off her arms, and then took her to a healer to quickly get the small cuts patched up. Once that was done, they opted to spend a few hours wandering aimlessly around the market. The two of them were about to check out a jewelry stand when they heard a voice call out to them.</p><p>"HALT!"</p><p> </p><p>The two let out a frustrated breath as they turned around to face the small squad of the Emperor's coven guards. The larger witch in front of them was presumably their leader.</p><p>"Amity Blight and Luz the Human."</p><p>Amity heard Luz mutter something under her breath.</p><p>"You are under arrest for Crimes against the Isles."</p><p>"What Crimes?" Amity asked.</p><p>The man in front of the group scoffed. "Like you wouldn't know."</p><p>Luz shook her head and took a deep breath. "Actually, we don't. We woke up with Amnesia a couple nights ago, and apparently went missing for a week."</p><p>The large brute shook his head. "Very well. If you don't know why you're wanted, then I shall list them off. The two of you are wanted for a myriad of crimes including-"</p><p>He froze before he could start to list them off. After a few moments he turned his head down to think, before turning to the rest of his squad.</p><p>"Do you guys know why they're wanted?" The goons behind him seemed just as clueless as the rest of them. Apparently whatever the two witchlings did was highly confidential.</p><p> </p><p>"So if you guys don't know why we're wanted"</p><p>"Uh huh?"</p><p>"And we don't know why we're wanted"</p><p>"Uh huh?"</p><p>"Does that mean you can let us go?"</p><p> </p><p>The large brute shook his head. "Sorry girls, But that's not how things work. I'd love to let you off with a warning, but Belos did not seem happy with you two."</p><p>Amity sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. "Right. But I don't suppose you'll blame us for running away?"</p><p>"Nah. Most people do that anyways."</p><p>"Right. In that case" Amity spun her hand in a large circle and summoned an abomination between them and the Coven goons. "LATER!" She grabbed Luz's hand and ran in the opposite direction.</p><p> </p><p>The chase was intense, but fairly brief. The coven guards didn't seem to really have their heart in it once they realized that they didn't even know why these two girls where so high on the Emperor's hit list. Once they lost the coven in an alleyway and caught their breath. They quickly broke down into a fit of laughter.</p><p>"You're a natural Amity!" Cried Luz.</p><p>Amity wasn't sure that being good at running away from local authority was a good thing. But with the sheer enthusiasm that Luz said it, she couldn't help but break into a smile. The low rumbling of both their stomachs snapped them out of the laughing fit.</p><p>"I guess we should go get lunch, huh?" noted Luz.</p><p>"We're near the pier. I know a spot we can go." said Amity.</p><p> </p><p>The pier was a long, solid walkway made of bone and plated in ancient chitin. The steam coming up from the boiling sea was gentle and soothing.  The two of them found the stand Amity was talking about and they each ordered a cup of Fish and Lips. They sat down to eat and chat, before they were rudely interrupted.</p><p> </p><p>"Hey, good looking." A large, muscular teen leaned against the picnic table. His arm putting itself between Amity and Luz.</p><p>"Not interested." Amity snipped without looking up.</p><p>"Ah, that's no fun." The large teen adjusted his collar as he kept a smug smile on his face.</p><p>"A pretty girl like you deserves a real man. Why don't we ditch this Looser and go check out the views?" He began to stroke Amity's hair behind her ears. Causing the green-haired witchling to snatch his wrist and hold it away from her. A fire sparked in her eyes as she stared down the flirtatious teen.</p><p> </p><p>"Listen here," She said, every word laced with venom. "I'm gay, so unless you grow a pair of tits here and now, feel free to walk straight off that ledge over there."</p><p>The teen who was flirting with her pulled his arm away and began to walk away. Luz could have heard him utter a slur under his breath. She was about to hurl an energy blast at him when she noticed that Amity was starting off into the distance.</p><p>"Are you alright?" She asked.</p><p>"I never told my parents about that..."</p><p>Amity had known she was lesbian for 3 years. And her parents had been looking at potential suiters for her. Never once did she feel confident enough to tell them that she wasn't into guys. And now they never would know. Perhaps that was for the best.</p><p>"This doesn't make things weird between us, right?" Amity meekly asked.</p><p>Luz shook her head and grabbed her hand. "Being who you are is never something that will come between us." Luz's reassuring smile helped calm Amity's breathing.</p><p>"Hey. If it makes you feel any better, I'm Bi. So not liking you for being lesbian would be a bit backwards, huh?"</p><p>Amity's breath caught in her throat.</p><p>
  <em>Luz is Bi.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>I actually have a chance with her.</em>
</p><p>Amity entire being shut down for a few moments before she finally regained herself and held Luz's hand even harder. "Thanks Luz. That means a lot to me."</p><p> </p><p>The two of them finished their meal and went back into town. Amity suggested that they grab desert from the bakery and head to the library. Technically speaking, there was no outside food allowed, but there wasn't really a reason to reinforce that in the secret room.</p><p>"You want a hot chocolate?" Amity asked.</p><p>"No thanks. I'm lactose intolerant."</p><p>Amity gave the human a confused look.</p><p>"What's lactose?"</p><p>"It's a thing in milk. Some people back home have a hard time digesting it. Myself included."</p><p>Amity closed her eyes and thought for a moment. "I don't think that's in spider milk"</p><p>Luz eyes widened a bit as she looked back at Amity. How could she forget that milk was different on the Boiling Isles?</p><p> </p><p>Luz had always wanted to try hot chocolate. All the movies she's watched made it look so good. And if spider demon milk didn't have lactose in it...</p><p>"Alright, I'll have one." She finally decided. "But if I end up with stomach troubles tonight, it's your fault." Amity let out a small giggle as she placed the order 2 hot chocolates with the works, a Bloodberry Danish for her, and a Grabapple Fritter for Luz. The barista handed Amity a box and a pair of to-go cups, all 3 having seals of binding on them so they wouldn't get jostled around.</p><p> </p><p>The two of them made their way to the library. once the coast was clear, they slipped their way into Amity's secret room and sat down on the bungee cord chairs that Luz had found in Eda's junk pile and brought into the room. Luz drew a few circles in the air to summon some small lights, along with using a few glyphs for old times' sake. Amity grabbed the third Azura book from the shelf before sitting down and giving Luz her fritter and Cocoa.</p><p> </p><p>Luz opened the lid and looked at her beverage. The to-go cup was simple, but had a nice floral pattern on it that reminded Luz of the tree she and Amity grew in their battle against Grometheus. The cocoa itself was a deep, luxurious brown, dotted by the small marshmallows that started to melt once the seal was removed. in the center of the cup was a small peak of whipped cream that topped with chocolate shavings and a wafer cookie that would have toppled the whole thing where it not for magic.</p><p> </p><p>Luz tentatively took a sip. The rich yet gentle chocolate flavor filled her mouth as a soft warmness went down her throat and spread through her whole body<em>. Damn my stomach. </em>She thought as she took another sip. If this drink resulted in her spending half an hour in the bathroom, it didn't matter. She <strong>will</strong> have more of this.</p><p> </p><p>The two of them finally started to read before Luz could drink her whole cup.</p><p>The two of them enjoyed voicing the characters, with Luz pretending to be Azura and Amity choosing to voice Hecate. As the sun lowered in the sky, the two of them reached the chapter where Azura played the ancient stone guardian like a fiddle. The sheer witlessness of the scene, combined with the fact that it somehow worked perfectly led to what is often considered the funniest scene in the whole franchise.</p><p> </p><p>As the two continued on, neither of them could stifle their laughter, both breaking into a fit of it about halfway through the page.</p><p>The gentle light of the room danced off of Amity's hair. Her golden eyes shining with a gleeful joy, and a perfect smile.</p><p> </p><p>It finally clicks for Luz.</p><p> </p><p><em>I like Amity.</em> She thinks to herself.</p><p> </p><p>All the emotions she's been feeling for the past month. All the eagerness she's had to be with Amity, the desire to be close to her. All of it made sense now. And it broke Luz's heart.</p><p> </p><p>"What's wrong?" Amity asked. Luz quickly shifted from a bout of laughter to a rather sullen face.</p><p>"Nothing" Luz lied. There's no way someone like Amity would ever fall for Luz.</p><p>Not wanting to discuss if further, Luz looked down at her phone and checked the time.</p><p>"It's getting late, we should probably head back."</p><p>"Alright." Amity said.</p><p> </p><p>The two of them scarfed down the rest of their drinks and treats before leaving the secret room and heading back home. The two walked silently for a bit of the trip. About halfway through, Amity finally decided to break the silence.</p><p>"That was fun" she said.</p><p>"Yeah, it was. wasn't it?"</p><p>"We should do that again some time."</p><p>"Definitely. That's what friends are for after all." Amity felt a pang in her chest. <em>Friends.</em> Just the same as Luz said at Grom. Amity couldn't help but wonder if Luz sounded strained that time though, or if it was just in her head.</p><p> </p><p>Eventually, the two of them got back to the owl house. Hooty <em>tried</em> to greet them, but a swift strike from Amity stopped him dead in his tracks. The scene that awaited them inside was simultaneously chaotic and comforting. The twins stood against the wall laughing about something, Lilith was practicing her glyphs, King was still snout deep in his research. Now he had even more books near him, along with several note pads and pencils. And Eda was whipping something up in the kitchen.</p><p> </p><p>That night passed on well. The twins where really enjoying that they no longer had to uphold their parents’ standards, and that somehow the Clawthorne's standards where even lower than theirs.</p><p>As the night dragged on, the twins went up to their room to get Edric some last-second studying (Amity still found this weird), and soon enough Luz and Amity followed suit.</p><p> </p><p>"Window's still broken."</p><p>"Yep."</p><p>"Gonna be cold again tonight."</p><p>"Yep."</p><p>"Do you want to snuggle again, orrrrr?"</p><p>"That's fine."</p><p> </p><p>The two witchlings gently got into bed. This time, it was Amity who wrapped her arms around Luz.<em> She's really tense.</em> Amity thought as she hugged the human she adored. Not knowing what else to do, she pulled Luz into an even tighter hug. The human stiffened a little bit more, before eventually relaxing her muscles.</p><p> </p><p>The two of them fell into a deep sleep, not knowing of the masked figure looking into their window.</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>Listen, obey, execute. All without question.</p><p>That is what it meant to serve.</p><p>Alba was the Emperor's right hand. Whatever the emperor ordered, he obliged.</p><p> </p><p>He was sent to spy on the owl house after the human had broken The Owl Lady free. He was there when the two girls disappeared without a trace, and when not even the Clawthornes knew where they went. And when the best oracles on the Titan couldn't find where the girls had gone, The Emperor was the first to know. When The Emperor did not change his orders, he did not question it.</p><p> </p><p>When a few days later, when the Castle was broken into and the Palismans held within where free. Belos had placed a grand bounty on the two girl's heads. Alba wondered why, when not a single scryr saw the two of them in their bowls, but he did not question it.</p><p> </p><p>And now here he was. Ordered to kill the two girls for crimes he did not know. The Emperor ordered it. And he did not question it. He sat on the ground, coating his blade in Amphithere venom that promised a painless death. Unaware of the giant watching him from a distance.</p><p> </p><p>~</p><p> </p><p>"My, My, Belos." The large figure said. "I knew you were insecure about your reign, but killing children?" She chuckled to herself. The large beast at her side letting out a superheated snort.</p><p>"This must be a new low." She continued to laugh to herself as a vine began to grow towards her, attracted by the sheer magical energy of this being. Here she stood. 15 feet tall, towering over even the beast that stood by her side. She wasn't trying to hide, but she didn't need to. The light itself bent around her prismatic skin. Anyone who looked at her might assume they're looking at a fallen log or upturned stone.</p><p> </p><p>She grabbed the vine and twirled it around her finger. Watching as the masked figure coated and recoated his knife. doing his damndest to give those kids a peaceful death.</p><p>"Tut, tut, tut." She muttered.</p><p>Belos was always trying to kill her fun. Both metaphorically, and now literally. The beast at her side let out a low growl. Alba froze for a moment, before deciding that the noise was just the wind.</p><p>"It's been awhile sense your last meal, hasn't it?"</p><p>The beast dragged it's cloven hooves at the ground, turning the air around it hotter as it got more excited.</p><p>The cloaked figure leaned down towards the beast's head, the grass around her knees growing at an exceptional rate.</p><p>"Let's fix that. Shall we?" She let go of the beast as it dashed forward, fire spewing from its mouth as it ran.</p><p> </p><p>~</p><p> </p><p>Eda took a sip from her apple blood. Things had been rambunctious sense she took in 3 more children. Not that she minded. Eda had known for a while that the Blights where an overbearing and controlling. After the youngest one had gone missing with Luz, and then Blight Manor burned down with their parents inside, Eda was more than happy to take in the kids.</p><p> </p><p>They could be expensive, but that wasn't much of an issue. Eda's always been stingy. As eager as she was to turn a profit, she rarely spent anything outside of the bare essentials. And honestly? Spending money on those kids didn't bother her in the slightest. The chest of gold that bat queen gave her would be more than enough to get them through for a good few years.</p><p> </p><p>Eda smiled as she went into the living room. Lilith had a cup of tea by her side and was reading a book about curses.</p><p><em>Still won't give up, will you? </em>Eda thought.</p><p>King, meanwhile was was writing something in one notebook and scratching something out in another. Eda could see deep bags under his eyes, which was quite impressive, considering his skull usually hid such a thing.</p><p>"King," Eda asked. "How many naps have you taken today"</p><p>King continued to shuffled his papers as he responded without looking up. "None"</p><p>Ok. Something was seriously wrong.</p><p>"Alright. What's gotten into you."</p><p>"Nothing's gotten into me."</p><p>"You sure about that?" Eda was seriously concerned by this point. "I've been bunking with you for 15 years. And not once have you ever gone a day without taking a nap."</p><p>King finally put his work down and sighed. "I'm stressed. Alright? Every time I try to go after power or fame, Luz gets hurt. And even when it's not my fault, there’s never anything I can do about it!"</p><p>Eda looked down at the demon, his tail twitching violently.</p><p>"When you were going to be petrified, I left Luz alone to fight The Emperor himself, just because I couldn't fight back against some weird, fleshy arm thing."</p><p>He took a deep breath as he tried, (And failed) to ground himself.</p><p>"And now Luz is in danger. I wasn't exaggerating when I said that the Fae are bad news. But for once I can actually help! Even if I'm not strong enough to fight, Demons and the like are my thing! If I can figure out what Fae Luz made a pact with. I might be able to figure out how to break it."</p><p> </p><p>Eda was never the sentimental type. But hearing King of all demons give such a passionate speech? She was barely keeping it together.</p><p>"Ah, come here you!" She said as she pulled the small demon into a hug.</p><p>King would normally fight such a thing. A true tyrant needed no such coddling! But not tonight. Tonight he returned the hug with equal force.</p><p>"I promise King, nothing bad will happen to Luz. Not on my watch."</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>
    <em>KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK</em>
  </strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>
    
  </strong>
</p><p>A large thumping at the door snapped Eda and King out of their sentimentality.</p><p>"EXCUSE ME!" Eda cried. "WE ARE TRYING TO HAVE A MOMENT HERE!"</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong>
    <em>KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK</em>
  </strong>
</p><p>
  <strong>
    
  </strong>
</p><p>The door went again. Eda put king down to go answer it. "I swear if someone's trying to sell me something I'll-"</p><p> </p><p>Nobody, in fact, was trying to sell Eda anything. Instead, she found herself facing a massive hog. Standing 10 feet tall, it towered over the witch. Eda could feel the heat coming off of the beast. A small flame lashing out with each breath. Along it's body, long, vertical stripes seemed to pulsate with its heart beat, growing brighter as it's inner flame grew hotter and hotter.</p><p> </p><p>Eda knew that if this thing tried to attack her. There would be no surviving it. Luckily, that wasn't the case. Instead, the hog simply snorted at her and spat something onto the ground in front of her, turning around and heading back towards the woods. After a few minutes of silence, Eda finally remembered to breath.</p><p> </p><p>"What... was that?"</p><p>Lilith simply sat in silence, not even noticing when her tea slipped out of her hands and onto her dress. King sat still for a few moments before grabbing one of his many books and flipping through it.</p><p>"Hellfire pig. Ancient creatures who's mastery of flame magic is unmatched to this day." he read a bit more before shaking his head.</p><p>"But that's impossible. They went extinct hundreds of years ago."</p><p>"Life finds a way I guess" Eda deadpanned as she reached down to grab whatever it spat out. The smooth metal was still hot to the touch.</p><p>"What is it?" Lilith asked as she walked over. Eda inspected it for a few moments before turning it around to reveal the visage of an owl.</p><p>Lilith immediately stepped back as she lifted her hand to her mouth, failing to hide the gasp that escaped her.</p><p>"Recognize it lily?"</p><p> </p><p>Lilith swallowed as she tried to find her tongue. "That mask... Belongs to the emperor's personal assassin."</p><p>King scoffed. "More like used to belong to." The two of them shot the small demon a glare, but he was right in a sense. If whoever owned this mask was the emperor's right hand man, then they must have been powerful. So for a wild beast to do them in...</p><p> </p><p>Their train of thought was interrupted by a muffled screeching coming from the door. Looking back, the group noticed that Hooty's face had been covered in a dense cluster of vines.</p><p>"I got him." Eda sighed as she yanked the foliage off of the house demon.</p><p>"Thanks Eda. I couldn't breathe under all that."</p><p>Eda blinked at him. "You don't need to breath."</p><p>"No. But I liiiiike to"</p><p>Eda slammed the door shut before Hooty made her put the vines back onto him.</p><p> </p><p>"Eda..." King said with a concerned voice.</p><p>As she looked down at the vines, she finally looked down to see what had gotten King's fur in a knot. The prismatic sheen of the petals was unmistakable.</p><p>"Nyaratholillies…"</p><p>Unlike previous blooms, these flowers did not change color. Instead, they all simply shown a deep, blood red.</p><p> </p><p>"I... think that's enough for one night." The two Clawthorne sisters bid each other goodnight and went to their rooms. King finally put his book down and curled up on the couch. King was never a religious demon. No point in worshiping a titan that died before his kind even existed. Yet that night, he still found himself thinking a silent prayer.</p><p> </p><p>A prayer that he would figure out what fae attached itself to Luz, and a prayer that the human would be alright.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>If anyone wants a better idea of what the Hellfire Pig's supposed to be. It's basically just a daeodon. but with fire powers.</p><p> </p><p>  </p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. The Rings</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Once again, thank you to <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/j_vie/pseuds/j_vie">j_vie</a> For Proofreading this chapter for me.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>    The twins took a deep breath in unison. This was the first time they've been back to school since Luz and Amity went missing. But things were different now.</p>
<p>       Edric rubbed his now orange-coated legs together. In all their years at school, the twins had always been in the same classes. Whenever one of them got detention, the other would always get it too. And if one of them got sick, the other would stay home to avoid spreading anything. Yet here they stood, preparing to part ways for what could be hours.</p>
<p>       "Meet you at lunch?" Edric asked.</p>
<p>       "You can count on it." Emira answered.</p>
<p>       Edric turned and walked towards the stables. Trying to keep his breath steady along the way. When he got to the classroom, he sat down and waited for the teacher to arrive. He recognized a few of the students from around the school, though he couldn't name them. Soon enough, his new Beast Keeping teacher came in the door. The behemoth of a man stood 7 feet tall, was built like a wall, and was covered from head to toe in bright orange hair. Edric, quite frankly, thought he'd be just as comfortable in the stables as any of the beasts within them.</p>
<p>       The teacher sat down at his desk before clearing his throat. A noise which Edric knew would haunt him for the rest of his days.</p>
<p>"Before we start," his voice boomed. "I understand we have a new student with us. Everyone, say hello to Edric Blight, joining us from the Illusions track."</p>
<p>       Murmurs sprung up across the room. Even if he wasn't from one of the most influential families on the Boiling Isles, and even if his family's home hadn't burnt down a week ago, him and his sister's pranks where famous all across the school. Without Emira to lean on, he felt himself sinking lower and lower into the chair before the Beast keeping teacher cleared his throat again.</p>
<p>       "Viney!" He commanded.</p>
<p>       "Yes sir?"</p>
<p>       "Please catch our new student up with his studies. You should be familiar with what a duel track student should know."</p>
<p>       Viney quickly confirmed this claim and moved over to Edric's desk.</p>
<p>       Edric had done quite a bit of studying during the weekend, but there was still <em>a lot</em> of research he needed to do before he reached his grade level. After class had passed, Edric and Viney went to the bleachers outside to study a bit more.</p>
<p>       "Man, I haven't read this many books since the library incident."</p>
<p>       Viney quirked head. "Library incident?"</p>
<p>       Edric let out a sigh. "A couple months ago, me and Emira went to the library during the Wailing Star to steal Amity's Diary. We wanted to post the pages around school to get back at her for constantly tattling on us."</p>
<p>       Viney let a gasp. "That's horrible!"</p>
<p>       "I know, I know." Edric flopped onto his back. "I didn't really like it either, but Emira convinced me it was the best option."</p>
<p> Viney didn't seem convinced. "And how, pray tell, did she do that?"</p>
<p> Edric stared at the cloudy sky as he pondered the question.</p>
<p> "I don't know," he finally admitted. "It's just- Emira's my sister. What else was I supposed to do?"</p>
<p> "Could have just said no."</p>
<p> "I wish it was that easy." Edric pinched the bridge of his nose as he talked. "Emira's been my only friend my entire life. I just go along with whatever she wants."</p>
<p> "Really?" Viney was starting to crack, but still wasn't budging. "Your only friend for your entire life?"</p>
<p> "Yep." Edric said while popping the letter ‘P’. "Our parents didn't want us hanging around with the ‘common folk’. They tried introducing us to new people. But it was only ever the snobs whose parents they worked with." Edric finally sat back up and met Viney's eyes.</p>
<p> "You know that pack of bullies that Amity used to hang out with?"</p>
<p> Viney thought about it for a moment before finally answering.</p>
<p> "You mean Boscha and her lackies?"</p>
<p> Edric nodded solemnly. "Mittens only ever hung out with them because our parents forced her to. They also forced her to cut ties with Willow because apparently associating with her would ruin our family’s reputation."</p>
<p> Viney could only stare at him as he recounted the story.</p>
<p> "And you want to know the best part? All this happened on her seventh birthday. She could barely even add her runes together, yet was expected to hold the family's name on her shoulders."</p>
<p> Viney sat in silence, gaping at what she had just been told.</p>
<p> "And honestly, if mother was still kicking, she probably would have incinerated you on the spot if she found out we were hanging out."</p>
<p> Viney swallowed as she absorbed everything. "I'm... sorry you had to live through that hell." she finally said.</p>
<p> Edric let out a small chuckle. "Don't be. It's not something I'll ever have to worry about again."</p>
<p> "I think that's enough studying for today." Viney snapped the book shut and handed it back to Edric. "How has Amity been since then?"</p>
<p> Edric scratched his head as he thought about it.</p>
<p>"Well, Luz was there to keep us from going through with it, and honestly things have really improved between us since then. Although..." he continued. "That might have more to do with the giant monster I accidently created out of her favorite childhood book."</p>
<p> "The what?!"</p>
<p> "Wailing stars are weird, let me tell you."</p>
<p> Viney couldn't help but let out a small chuckle. "See you around!" she said as she headed back towards school. But before she jumped down from the bleachers, she stopped and hesitated for a moment.</p>
<p> "Hey," she said with her back turned. "If Emira's ever pressuring you into something that you're not comfortable with. Feel free to give me a call."</p>
<p> Edric stood up as he ran his fingers through his hair. "So I don't have to ask for your number?"</p>
<p> Viney cast a small spell circle in the air, dropping a small piece of parchment on Edric's head. "Nope."</p>
<p> Edric could have sworn he saw Viney winked at him before she walked away. He only stood there though, a light pink crawling up his cheeks before the school bell screamed out as announcement for his next class.</p>
<hr/>
<p> It had been a good day for Luz and Amity.</p>
<p> First, Bump said they wouldn't have to do the test they missed until Friday, on account of them going missing.</p>
<p>Second, Bump also set up a quick trial for Luz to see if she was ready to partake in assignments that required magical ability. A test that she passed with flying colors.</p>
<p>And third, people where just excited to see them. News of Luz and Amity's disappearance had spread like wildfire. A flame that burned even brighter when Blight Manor burnt down.</p>
<p> To say people were relieved when they went back to school was an understatement. Though anyone who asked what happened was sorely disappointed when the girls revealed they had amnesia for the whole debacle.</p>
<p> After the final bell rang, Luz, Amity, and Gus went to the greenhouse to meet up with Willow.</p>
<p> "ACK!" Luz cried as she turned the corner and ended up running right into... Skara?</p>
<p> "Sorry, sorry, sorry" The bard cried as she ran back towards the main entrance.</p>
<p> Only a few yards away, Willow was standing in the doorway to the greenhouse, chuckling as Luz rubbed her head.</p>
<p> "What was that about?" Amity asked. She hadn't really talked to Skara since she broke off from her former ‘friend’ group.</p>
<p> "Nothing" Willow responded innocently. "She was just saying hi."</p>
<p> Gus scratched his chin. "But the Bard classrooms are on the other side of the school."</p>
<p> "So is the illusion classroom. Your point?"</p>
<p> Before Gus or Amity could question her anymore, Luz regained her bearings and got everyone's attention. "Alright everybody, guess what!"</p>
<p> Willow and Gus quickly turned towards the human who was beaming even brighter than usual.</p>
<p> "Me and Amity talked to Eda, and she said we can have a sleepover for the whole weekend! What do you guys say?"</p>
<p> "I'M IN!" Gus quickly responded.</p>
<p> Willow thought for a moment. "I think my dads had plans for this weekend, but considering you two went missing for a week? I don't think they'll mind."</p>
<p> "YES!" Luz couldn't keep her excitement in. "You thought the Moonlight Conjuring was fun? Prepare for the best sleepover of your life!"</p>
<p> </p>
<hr/>
<p> The rest of the week passed by quickly. Boscha and her cronies steered clear of Luz and co. Luz began her first lessons with her own magic, and Luz and Amity passed their test with flying colors.<br/>  Unfortunately, They weren't able to figure anything out about the rings they woke up with. Amity's jeweler and family friend could only figure out that they where probably valuable.</p>
<p> </p>
<hr/>
<p> "Snacks?"<br/> "Check."<br/> "Streamers?"<br/> "Check."<br/> "Corny horror flicks?"<br/> "Check."</p>
<p> This was the third time that Luz and Amity had gone through their checklist. This sleepover had to be absolutely, 100% perfect. Amity had just set a pot of spider milk on the pot for Hot Cocoa when a knock was heard at the door.</p>
<p> "I got it!" Luz yelled.</p>
<p> As Amity grabbed a ketal to warm some water for her brother's cocoa, she heard the door fly open as Luz greeted their guests.</p>
<p> "WELCOME TO THE OWL HOUSE!"</p>
<p> "Luz, we've been here before you know."</p>
<p> "I know, but now you're here for a special reason!"</p>
<p> Amity chuckled to herself. The human's enthusiasm never failed to lift her spirits. Sometimes she wondered where she would be in life if Luz had never come to the Boiling Isles. Currently, the answer would probably be in her room at the manor, studying for whatever assignment was on Monday and trying to figure out where she could hide her diary so the twins didn't post it around school <em>again</em>.</p>
<p> A few minutes later, Amity came out of the kitchen with 7 cups of cocoa. As she passed them around the room, Luz looked over her list to determine what they should do first. The twins sat on the couch, not really taking part in anything, but enjoying the company none the less. King was on the chair, still keeping to his studies but interjecting now and again as Luz went down her list.</p>
<hr/>
<p><br/> This slumber part was, without a doubt, the best night of all their lives. The food, the atmosphere. all of it was pure catharsis.</p>
<p> "Alright everyone. It's time I introduce you to a new human game." Gus's eye sparkled the moment Luz said "human".</p>
<p> "Truth or dare?"</p>
<p> "What's that?" Willow asks tentatively.</p>
<p>       "It's simple really", Luz said as she tried (and failed) to do her best British accent. "Someone asks you truth or dare. If you choose truth, then you have to answer the question they ask entirely truthfully, no matter how embarrassing. And if you choose dare, then you have to do whatever in the titan's name they tell you to do. Makes sense?"</p>
<p>       Gus and Willow nodded along, while Amity' breath hitched in her throat. "Hey Willow, can I talk to you for a minute?" Before she could even answer, Amity grabbed Willow's shoulders and pulled her into the kitchen.</p>
<p> "What's wrong?" she asked.</p>
<p> Amity took a deep breath. "I like Luz-"</p>
<p> "I know."</p>
<p> "A lot-" Amity stared at the shorter girl, whose face was uncharacteristically smug. "What do you mean you know?"</p>
<p>       "You're not exactly good at hiding it Mittens. I'm pretty sure everyone at school realizes it except for Luz herself.”</p>
<p>       Amity pinched the bridge of her nose. <em>of course</em> she was that obvious. and <em>of course</em> Luz was that oblivious. With a deep breath, she resumed what she was trying to say. "Right. Well, I'm finally ready to tell her. But I need your help."</p>
<p> Willow's ears perked up a bit. "How so?"</p>
<p> "I need you to back me into a corner. When it's your turn, just ask me who I wanted to invite to Grom."</p>
<p> "That doesn't sound very ‘ready’. Are you sure you want this?"</p>
<p> "I'm sure. If I can't do it tonight... Then I don't think I'll ever be able to."</p>
<p> "Alright. I'm in. C'mon, let's get back before they get suspicious."</p>
<p>       When the two girls got back, Gus was busy quizzing Luz on Human world oddities. In other words, Willow and Amity could have been gone all night and they wouldn't have noticed.</p>
<p> With everyone gathered around, the game finally began.</p>
<p> "GUS!" Luz started. "Truth or dare?"</p>
<p> "Dare."</p>
<p> The human thought for a moment before a smug smile crept along her face. "I dare you to kiss your own Illusion."</p>
<p> "Alright." Gus shrugged. A spell circle and a quick peck lips later and the deed was done.<br/> "Huh." Luz stared absent mindedly at him. "I'm not sure what I was expecting, but that was kinda underwhelming."</p>
<p> Gus simply shrugged. "Eh, I did what you asked. Anyways, Willow. Truth or dare?"</p>
<p> "Truth."</p>
<p> "Alright. What where you doing with Skara in the greenhouse on Monday?"</p>
<p> Willow went still. <em>Unnervingly still</em>. A few seconds later, she spoke up. "Give me one minute" she said as she walked to the bathroom.</p>
<p> 5 minutes later, she came back and sat back down. "Alright" she said. "What was the question again?"</p>
<p> "What where you doing with Skara in the Greenhouse on Monday?"</p>
<p> Willow took a deep breath and tried her best to look smug. (She was failing at it.)</p>
<p> "Planning our next date."</p>
<p> Gus gawked at her as Luz spat out her hot chocolate and entered a coughing fit.</p>
<p> "No…" Amity could only say. "You and her?"</p>
<p> "Mmmhmmmm."</p>
<p> "Alright. I'm gonna need to know how that happened" Luz said once she finally stopped coughing.</p>
<p>       "Wellll…" Willow began. "She really lightened up after the grudgby game. Started saying hi as she passed by and picked up conversations. As the days went on, she seemed more and more uncomfortable with Boscha's gang as they picked on people. Turns out that her parents had made them start hanging out when they were younger, and Boscha keeps her ‘friends’ under her thumb just as much as her targets." Willow's smile widened as she continued.</p>
<p>       "Once she realized that she didn't have to do what Boscha wanted her to do if she was uncomfortable with it, she became the <em>sweetest</em> person I've ever met. Titan knows what Boscha must have been doing to that poor Bean sprout for her to have been so nasty before.</p>
<p> "Wait wait wait wait wait." Amity interjected. <em>"Bean Sprout?"</em></p>
<p> Willow's face turned a bright pink as the rest of the group broke down into laughter.</p>
<p> "By the titan," Emira managed to squeak out. "You're worse than Mittens!"</p>
<p> Willow's embarrassed flush was quickly replaced by a smug grin.</p>
<p> "That reminds me…"</p>
<p> Oh no.</p>
<p> "Amity. truth or dare?"</p>
<p> Amity swallowed as her mouth went dry.<br/>"Truth."<br/>"Who did you want to ask to Grom?"<br/>Amity steadied her breathing as she braced herself. She could feel Luz staring into her as she looked to the ground.<br/>"^Luz..."<br/>"What was that Mittens?"<br/>"Luz. I wanted to ask Luz to Grom."<br/>She tentatively turned her head towards the human, who simply stared at her.<br/>"What?" Luz asked.<br/>Amity took a deep breath.<br/>"I like you, Luz. like, really like you. As more than a friend."<br/>Amity couldn't meet her eyes. Dozens of possibilities passed through her head.<br/>"She's going to hate me now" She thought to herself.<br/>After what felt like an Eternity, Luz finally spoke up.<br/>"How?"<br/>Amity blinked. She was prepared for a lot of different things, but not that.<br/>"What do you mean" she asked nervously.<br/>"I mean how could you fall for me?" Luz said with a raised voice. "Look at you. You're pretty, you're the top of your class, you come from the most prestigious families on the isle. And me?"<br/>Luz was holding back tears at this point.</p>
<p>"I'm just a weirdo. A screw up. A dumb human who brings live snakes in for their book report. I'm a nobody."</p>
<p>       Amity's heart crack. She couldn't take this anymore. Without a second thought, she threw herself at Luz and wrapped her arms around her. "Listen to me Luz. None of that is true. You brighten every room you walk into. You improve the lives of everyone around you. You got Willow put in the plant track and raised her confidence. You rescued Eda from Emperor Belos and gave her a second chance after her curse drained her magic."</p>
<p>       Tears where streamed down her face, but Amity didn't try to stop them. "You want to know how I fell in love with you, Luz? You changed me. You tore down the walls that I've been building around my heart for years. You helped me patch things up with Willow, you brought me closer to my siblings, you helped me break off from the people my parents forced me to be with. Everything you've done since you got here has made me a better person. The person I <em>want</em> to be."</p>
<p>       Amity finally pulled away before resting her hands on Luz's shoulders. She looked the human in the eyes. Tears streaming down both their faces as Luz stared at Amity in Awe.</p>
<p>"I love you, Luz."</p>
<p>       Amity's not quite sure what happened next, but before she knew it, Luz's lips where planted firmly against hers. She was shocked at first, to be sure. but soon enough, Amity embraced the moment and returned the kiss with equal force. After what felt like an eternity, Luz pulled back and looked Amity in the eyes.</p>
<p>"Thank you." She uttered.</p>
<p>       Before they could return to an Embrace. They were interrupted by a soft sniffling. They turned their heads, remembering that there were other people in the room.</p>
<p>"That was the most beautiful thing I've ever seen." Gus said between sobs.</p>
<p>       Edric was bawling into Emira's shoulder who was gently patting his back. "You did good, Mittens." she smiled at her younger sister.</p>
<p>       Willow padded her eyes with a handkerchief, doing a bit of a better job holding it in than the others. "Hey guys," she asked. "Why are your rings glowing?"</p>
<p>       Sure enough, the mysterious rings the two girls woke up with where emitting a faint glow. The purple light seemingly turning the pale silver into warm oranges and reds.</p>
<p>       King, who refused to get sentimental during all that, finally perked up. "Wait a second…" he said as he grabbed one of his books and flipped through it.</p>
<p>"Oh."<br/>"Ha."<br/>"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"</p>
<p>       King broke down in a fit of laughter, whatever he had read causing any sense of dignity to instantly vanish from the small demon.</p>
<p>Luz and Amity shared a nervous glance. "King, what is it?"</p>
<p>"The rings they- they're-" He couldn't say it through all the laughter. The twins walked over to his chair and looked at his book.</p>
<p>As they read it, their eyes went wide.</p>
<p>"You mean..?" Edric asked.</p>
<p>"Yep" King continued to laugh his ass off.</p>
<p>       With that conformation, the twins quickly ended up joining in. "Damn, Mittens. I didn't think you had it in you!"</p>
<p>Amity was getting tired of this. "Had what in me?"</p>
<p>       Before any of them could answer, Eda came down stairs with an empty bottle of Apple blood. "Alright. I recognize who's laughing here. and I don't like it. So what happened?"</p>
<p>"EDA EDA EDA!" King cried as he shoved the book in her face. "The rings!"</p>
<p>       Eda moved the page away from her face. Unlike the twins, her face remained scarily monotone. "Does that mean what I think it means?"</p>
<p>"Yep." King confirmed as his tail twitched.</p>
<p>Eda sat down and pinched the bridge of her nose. "I didn't drink enough for this."</p>
<p>       Luz stared at the group in confusion, hoping someone would tell her what happened. Amity, meanwhile, found a bit of her old temper buried away somewhere.</p>
<p>"OK, WE GET IT. NOW SPIT IT OUT ALREADY" She roared.</p>
<p>       King let out a small yelp before regaining his bearings. As he cleared his throat, he began to read a passage from his book.</p>
<p>       "The Ēostring is an ancient Fae artifact. It is said when the strongest of the Fae descend upon the mortal realm, They're constantly looking into the hearts and minds of witches everywhere. If the fae finds a pair of souls, those who burn brightest when in each other's presence. Then the Fae may give the mortals both their blessing and these rings."</p>
<p>The entire room fell Silent as King told his story.</p>
<p>       "The rings themselves are said to be promises extracted from the Titan itself. A Promise that even the fates will bend so those who are blessed with the rings will spend the rest of their lives together. Often entwined in sacred unity."</p>
<p>Amity's mouth was dry, but Luz seemed as oblivious as she ever was.</p>
<p>"I.... Understood about half that."</p>
<p>       King closed his book, put it to his side, and leaned forward. The small demon doing his best to look smug.</p>
<p>"It means, dear human, that you two are engaged."</p>
<hr/>
<p>The room remained silent for a few minutes more. It was overwhelming. Stifling even.</p>
<p>       Eda inevitably decided that she had to, once again, be the responsible adult role model. "Alright, Look kids." She walked over and placed a hand on each of their shoulders.</p>
<p>       "Just because you two hitched without knowing it, doesn't mean you have to do it any time soon. Hell, I know one guy who was engaged to this girl for 10 years before finally getting married."</p>
<p>       The tension in both of their shoulders subsided a little bit. "Besides, if what King said is true, then not only would you have probably ended up together anyways, But even the fates themselves are gonna make sure it works out in the end."</p>
<p>       It was still a lot to take in, of course. But Eda's pep talk definitely raised their spirits.</p>
<p>"Hey" Luz said. "If I'm engaged to anyone, then I'm glad it's you."</p>
<p>Amity blushed at the compliment. "You mean it?"<br/>Luz let out a happy chortle. "If I didn't mean it, would I have kissed you earlier?"<br/>While Amity's face quickly contorted into a smile, Edalyn was having none of it.</p>
<p>"Eughh!" she said "How mushy are you two gonna get?"</p>
<p>       And with that, any tension remaining in the room was gone as everyone erupted into a joyous laugh.<br/>"Alright everyone. Time for bed" Eda said before heading up stairs. "You still got all day tomorrow to do whatever you want."</p>
<hr/>
<p>"Why are we missing a Sleeping bag?"<br/>Amity could have sworn she got 4 sleeping bags for tonight.<br/>Yet when she went to the closet where they where stored, She only found 3 of them.</p>
<p>"Tch tch tch" Emira said behind her.<br/>"I guess somebody's gotta share." Edric finished.<br/>Amity took a deep breath and put her head into her hands. Anything to keep her from murdering her siblings right then and there.<br/>"You hid the fourth one so me and Luz would have to share, didn't you?"<br/>"Maaaaaybe?"<br/>"Are you complaining Mittens?"<br/>Amity froze for a few seconds before answering.<br/>"No..." she said as she grabbed the 3 remaining bags.</p>
<hr/>
<p>"G'night everyone"</p>
<p>Luz and Amity crawled into their shared sleeping bags.</p>
<p>       Despite the sudden Revelation that they Were somehow <em>engaged</em>, They felt a lot more relaxed than they had when they were snuggling to stay warm.</p>
<p>       As Luz wrapped her arms around Amity's body. She felt all her troubles melt away in an instant. And a low rumbling began to Emanate from her chest.</p>
<p>"You can purr?!?!"<br/>"Uhhhh, yeah. All witches can."<br/>"Lucky..." Luz scoffed.<br/>"We usually only do it when we're feeling affectionate."<br/>Luz let out an Excited, but quiet squeal.</p>
<p>       "That is the most adorable thing I've ever seen." She said as she pulled Amity into a tighter hug. With Amity in her warm embrace, the two of them fell into a gentle sleep, wondering what the future could hold for them.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Before you ask. Skarlow's probably going to stay a background relationship. I'm already juggling both Lumity and Vinedric, so I don't really feel confident in adding another one of those two the fray.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. The Date</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>VINEDRIC VINEDRIC VINEDRIC</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Several weeks had gone by since Luz and Amity came back. And several weeks since Edric started multitracking.<br/>And while he got off to a rocky start, Edric was quickly rising the ranks of his beast keeping classmates.</p><p>"So how did it go?" He asked Viney.<br/>Today was a big exam. And while he was pretty confident in his ability, It was none the less long, stressful, and tiresome.<br/>"Good, I hope" The girl said as she fiddled with her hair band. "We won't know until Monday though"<br/>Edric nodded along. "Y'know, After an exam like that, It might be a good idea to unwind a bit."<br/>Viney's curiosity was peaked. "What did you have in mind?" She asked.<br/>The Blight's confident facade quickly began to crumble.<br/>"Oh, I was wondering if you would. I don't know... Wanna go on a date with me tomorrow?"<br/>She froze for a moment with her hands in her hair.<br/>"What did you have in mind?"<br/>"How does a picnic sound?"<br/>A smile broke along Viney's face.<br/>"I know the perfect spot!" she cried.<br/>"Perfect!" Edric replied. "See you tomorrow at 2?"<br/>"It's a date!"<br/>Viney gave him a quick hug before heading towards her locker.<br/>Edric simply smiled.<br/>"Tomorrow is going to be great!" He thought to himself.</p><hr/><p>"Tomorrow is going to be terrible!" Edric muttered as he paced back in forth through the living room.<br/>"I don't know what to do here! What if she's allergic to something? what if we get attacked by a Wild Slither beast?"<br/>Emira caught wind of his rambling and came down the stairs to see what was bothering him.<br/>"What's wrong Ed?"<br/>Edric froze. "Nothing" he squawked meekly.<br/>She walked over to her brother and stared him down.<br/>"Ed. We both know you're a terrible liar."<br/>Ed simple mumbled and stared at the ground.<br/>"Spit it out Ed"<br/>"I have a date."<br/>Emira could only stare and blink at her brother. She knew he had a few crushes through his life, but they never went anywhere. And it's not like Ed was particularly smooth either.<br/>"Well" she continued. "Who's the lucky lady."<br/>"One of my Multi-track classmates, Viney"<br/>Emira thought about it for a few moments before she remembered and let out a quick wolf whistle.<br/>"Damn Edric, you got good taste."<br/>He eyed his twin sister with suspicion, to which she simply chuckled.<br/>"Don't worry Ed. I not going to steal your girl. So" she put her arm around her brother's shoulders before continuing. "What's the plan?"<br/>"I'm taking her on a picnic tomorrow."<br/>Emira nodded in approval.<br/>"Hmmm, good choice. But if it's tomorrow, then we're gonna have to act fast."<br/>She turned towards the staircase and raised her voice.<br/>"LUZ, MITTENS, GET DOWN HERE!"<br/>The two younger girls stumbled down stairs, Luz holding a book in her hands.<br/>"What is it?" Amity asked.<br/>"We need you two love birds to help us plan Ed's date for tomorrow."<br/>Luz dropped her book and squealed in joy. "I always wanted to plan a date night for someone!"<br/>Amity looked at Luz with a betrayed look. "What about our date nights?"<br/>Luz simple gave the green haired witch a hug. "oooooh, I'm sorry mittens. But we both know that planning your own date and planning someone else's date are entirely different experiences. Now C'mon, your brother's counting on us."</p><hr/><p>Edric stood behind the door.<br/>It was only 2:03, But already felt like he had been waiting for hours.<br/>He quadruple checked his picnic basket. Magically enchanted to hold more than it should normally. Edric hoped, no. Prayed it held everything he would need for this date.<br/>He had a dozen sandwiches (about 4 different kinds), hex-mix, a gallon of apple blood, a wrapped bundle of eye rats for puddles, and his swim trunks.<br/>Luz supplied him with a human food she managed to replicate. (Tostones, he believes they where called.) and some kind of human music box, not to dissimilar to her own.<br/>And his sisters packed him a couple games along with giving him some advice.</p><p>a couple minutes later, he heard chatter outside the door.<br/>"Ooh boy, A new friend! Let me tell you about aallll the bugs I've found today"</p><p>Edric's eyes shot open in panic.<br/>"I never told her about Hooty"<br/>In a flash, he ran over to the door and opened it.<br/>"And then, there was this one time where- HEY!" Hooty screeched as he was suddenly yanked inside.</p><p>"Sorryaboutthat!" cried Edric.<br/>Viney simply stared into the abyss, before shaking herself out of it.<br/>"I've never seen a house demon like that before."<br/>"Yeah. You, uhhhh, get used to him."<br/>"Really?"<br/>"No"</p><p>The two stood awkwardly for a moment.<br/>"You look good." Edric finally managed to muster.<br/>Viney had let her hair down so it was flowing over her shoulders and back, and was wearing a simple T-shirt and pants, along with a flannel jacket.<br/>Her T-shirt looks like it had been frankensteined together, two entirely different shirts stitched together so that half the shirt was orange with the beast keeping coven emblem, and the other half was blue with the healing coven emblem.<br/>"Thanks. Are you ready?" Viney asked.<br/>"You got it!"</p><p>She hopped back onto Puddles and helped Edric follow suit.</p><p>"Giddyup girl!"</p><p>At her command, Puddles began a mad sprint before leaping into flight. She felt the Blight behind her grab on as they ascended.</p><p>"You can open your eyes now"</p><p>Edric peeked open his eye, before realizing that he was holding onto Viney perhaps a bit to tightly.<br/>Once he realized, he quickly let go and took in his surroundings. And boy where they breathtaking.<br/>The entirety of the Boiling Isles was below them, sprawling forests of crimson dotted by small houses and fields.</p><p>"This is amazing!"<br/>He was truly enamored by it all. The wind in his hair, Puddle's soft down feathers, Viney at the reins?<br/>It was perfect.</p><p>"I could get used to this" is all he could say.<br/>Viney laughed. A sound which Edric wanted to hear it more of.<br/>"Never been flying before?"<br/>Edric simply shrugged. "Only in the safest, most expensive, and most boring flying carriages you've ever seen."<br/>The two continued flying silently for about 10 minutes, both enjoying the flight to it's fullest.<br/>"Looks like we're here!" Edric heard Viney call.<br/>Looking below him, He saw where she was heading. On a narrow plateau  high above the rest of the cliffs stood a small basalt pool surrounded by a small grove of trees with shimmering golden leaves.<br/>A small creek flowed out of the pool, through a small field, and off the cliff where it blew away.</p><p>The griffon landed nearby and crouched down so it's riders could safely dismount.</p><p>"This is..." Edric stammered. "Wow."<br/>"Glad you like it." Viney said as she gave Puddles a head pat. "My dad used to take me and mom here all the time before a bad spidercow kick cost him his legs. We still pop by every now and again, but it's become a lot harder."<br/>"I'm... Sorry to hear that." Is all Edric could come up with.<br/>Viney shrugged him off. "Don't be. He definitly misses walking, But there's still plenty he can do around the ranch, and he's still got me and mom."<br/>"Now C'mon!" she cried. "I'm starving."</p><p>The two sat down by the creek and unpacked their lunch. Edric tossed Puddles a rat before chowing down on a Sinlami sandwich, while Viney ended up with a Hellham and Devil's Lettuce supreme.<br/>"Oh, Wait a second!"<br/>Edric reached in side the basket and pulled out the box that Luz had given him. Neither of them knew what songs where on it, so he opted to flip through it until he found something that stuck.<br/>Eventually, He ended up with a song that had a lot of string instruments in it, so he set it on loop and put it down.<br/>The two witches chatted and laughed through the rest of their meal. They both went through several more sandwiches, about half the gallon of apple blood, and they both *adored* the human food that Luz made for them, which was kept warm thanks to a handy fire glyph.<br/>After eating, they ended up playing a round of Hexxes hold 'em and a match of amphitheres and elevators.</p><p>"You ready to swim?" Viney asked.<br/>Edric agreed and went behind the grove to change. He quickly swapped into his swim trunks and cast his clothes back into the picnic basket.<br/>"YOU DECENT?" He asked Viney through the trees.<br/>"YEP, YOU'RE GOOD!" He heard her shout back. And so, he made his way back towards the small field to meet back up with Viney.<br/>Oh.<br/>Viney wore a simple, orange 2 piece Tankini. Not particularly revealing, but it still showed off her well-toned muscles and several scars from her time on the ranch.</p><p>And Edric wouldn't have it any other way.<br/>"you look- I- Ummm"<br/>Edric couldn't find the words.<br/>"Wow"</p><p>Viney let out a hearty laugh.<br/>"C'mon, let's go."</p><p>Edric climbed over the smooth basalt pillars and over to the pond. a quick toe dip revealed the water to be quite chilly, so he gingerly started to get in.<br/>"CANNON BAAAAAAAAL"<br/>Edric looked up to see Viney jumping into the center of the pool.<br/>Off of puddles.<br/>From about 20 feet above the water's surface.<br/>Edric didn't have time to back away. The splash from Viney's impact soaked the poor witch from head to toe.<br/>As he sputtered to get the water out of his mouth, Viney floated up to the surface and smiled at him.</p><p>"Didn't that hurt?" Edric asked.<br/>"Like hell"<br/>The two of them laughed before Edric made a much less dramatic dive into the pool himself. They swam around for a few hours, chatting, diving, and the like.<br/>As the sun began to set, The two of them dried off and Leaned against the tree. Eating more of the sandwhiches as Puddles napped beside them.</p><p>"You're soft" Edric said as he leaned into the other witch.<br/>Viney simply scoffed. "Are you calling me fat?"<br/>He might have fallen for it, had it not been the gentle purr coming from Viney's chest betraying her.<br/>And so, Edric simply chuckled and allowed himself to purr aswell.</p><p>They simply sat there, enjoying the sun set and each other's company, before being unceremoniously interrupted.</p><p>"MRRRHAAAR"</p><p>A large green lump landed in front of the two. It was a large lizard, roughly the size of a house cat. It had a hump between it's shoulders, a large claw on each of it's front limbs, And a human-like hand at the tip of it's tail.<br/>"Any idea what that is?" Edric asked.<br/>"A Mirage Lizard" Viney said. "They're rare. But nobody knows how rare due to them usually hiding themselves with illusion magic."</p><p>The Lizard stood back up and shook itself off from it's fall. It then took note of Edric and stared at him intently, ripples of orange and white flowed across it's scales.<br/>Edric, not quite sure what to do, Tossed the creature part of his sandwich.<br/>It jumped back a little bit, before sniffing the unfamiliar food item and quickly woofing it down.<br/>It then returned his eyes back to the young witch, approaching slowly as it's scales changed to a vibrant pattern of pink and green.</p><p>"I think it likes you" Viney whispered in his ear.</p><p>Cautiously, Edric tore another chunk off his sandwich and laid it in his palm, which he carefully offered to the Lizard.<br/>Once again, the Lizard sniffed it cautiously before eating it.<br/>Edric, feeling a bit bold, gently moved his hand to scratch it under the chin.<br/>The Lizard, while surprised, quickly leaned into the scritches with eagerness. Flecks of gold and pink flashing along it's skin.</p><p>"Do you remember the rite of bonding?" Viney asked.<br/>Edric nodded. The rite of bonding was possibly the single most important spell for any beastkeeper.<br/>Casting it was an open invitation to a creature for companionship. They would know your intentions and who you are as a person. But if they accepted it, then a magical bond would form.<br/>The two who are bound will know what the other is feeling and have basic understanding of each other, and as the two grow closer, the bond also becomes stronger, allowing better communication and understanding.</p><p>Edric carefully drew the spell circle with his free hand, before sticking his open palm through the glowing circle.<br/>The Lizard withdrew his head and stared at his hand. it's narrow pupils flickering in the orange light.<br/>After a tense few moments for the young witch, The lizard shoved his head forward against Edric's outstretched hand. The circle surrounding them glowed brightly before<br/>quickly closing in, causing both Edric and the Lizard to briefly glow a faint orange.</p><p>"Good to meet you buddy" Edric said.<br/>The lizard responded with a gentle mrrrk, before climbing onto the Witch's shoulders.<br/>"Congrats Eddy. It looks like you're officially a beast keeper now!"<br/>Edric chuckled. "I guess I am."<br/>"So, what are you gonna call it?" she asked.<br/>He scratched the Lizard's chin as he thought about it.<br/>"I'd say he looks like... a Giovanni"<br/>Giovanni opened his eyes and nuzzled Edric's face.<br/>Viney couldn't help but smile. "I guess he likes it."<br/>Edric wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close.<br/>"Thanks" He simply said.<br/>"What did I do?"<br/>"Suggested multi-tracking in the first place, and brought me out here where I met this little guy."<br/>Viney chuckled. "You're such a dork."<br/>"Thanks, I get that a lot."<br/>The two of them leaned back into each other, Watching the sun set with their animal companions.</p><hr/><p>It was dark by the time Puddles landed outside The Owl House. Once again, she kneeled down so her riders could comfortably hop off.</p><p>"That was fun" Edric remarked.<br/>"It was. I'd love to do that again some time."<br/>A sly grin spread across Edric's face.<br/>"Does that mean we're dating now?"<br/>Viney chuckled, before giving him a small peck on the cheek.<br/>"I'd say so"<br/>Edric's sly grin melted as he stared at the girl.<br/>Viney hopped back on puddles before looking back towards Edric.</p><p>"See you 'round, Eddy"</p><p>"Bieeeeh" Is all Edric managed before the two of them then took off, Flying into the night sky and back towards the ranch.<br/>Giovanni gave him a sly glare.<br/>"don't look at me like that"<br/>The Lizard let out what almost sounded like a chuckle before the two of them went inside for the night.</p><p>Eda sat on the couch with a cup of apple blood by her side.<br/>"Did it go well?" She asked.<br/>Edric looked at his new companion and scratched his chin. "Yeah, I'd say so" He said.<br/>Eda threw her arms up the moment she saw the new face.<br/>"Great. Yet another mouth to feed." she grumbles.<br/>King, on the other hand, was ecstatic.<br/>"YES! A NEW SUBJECT TO RULE. BOW BEFORE YOUR KING OF DEMONS!"<br/>But Giovanni did now bow. Instead, his scales rippled before becoming entirely transparent.<br/>"ACK! WHERE DID HE GO?"<br/>King looked back and fourth in a panic, eyes twitching as he scanned the room looking for the lizard.<br/>Giovanni rematerialized out of thin air behind him, putting his tail hand firmly on King's shoulder.<br/>King, as one would expect, screeched in fear, before running into Eda's hair to hide.<br/>The two witches laughed. "Alright, you better get to bed kid."<br/>Edric nodded and went upstairs to his room, Emira was already asleep, so he quietly changed into his Pajamas and slipped into his cot.<br/>Giovanni ducked under the covers next to him and quickly fell asleep himself.</p><p>As Edric stared at the ceiling, memories of the earlier day flashed across his mind. And he couldn't help but smile.<br/>The future looked bright for the young Blight. Though as he thought about it, he didn't really know <em>what</em> his future held.<br/>His parents had always held him to high expectations. But now that they where out of the picture, his life could really be whatever he wanted it to be.<br/>He smiled as his eyes fluttered shut. He didn't know what would come next. But whatever it was, it would be the best Edric could make it.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>If you want a better idea what Giovanni looks like, It's basically just a large Drepanosaurus with Chameleon color changing, Illusion magic, and a hand instead of a tail claw.</p><p>
  
</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. The Crate</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Sorry it's a bit later than usual. But writing this chapter just kicked my ass. y'know? anyways. It's here now. enjoy</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Luz and Amity arrived home and leaned against the door. It had been... A long day to say the least.</p><p>"Who knew a flock of wild cockatrices getting into the school would be so tiresome?" the human asked.</p><p>"Everyone who knows what a cockatrice is" laughed Amity. The two reminisced at the days events, How the cockatri had broken in, How they ended up trying to nest in the beastkeeping pens, and how Boscha was entirely terrified of being petrified due to the school not having any sunglasses that would cover all of the Triclop's eyes.</p><p>"I'm gonna go change in the bathroom" Amity finally interjected.<br/>"Cool, I'll change in here while you're doing that."<br/>And with that, the green-haired witch grabbed her pajamas and left the room.</p><hr/><p>Luz had not changed while Amity was in the bathroom. Instead, she sat hunched-over on the floor with her back against the door.</p><p>"What's wrong?" Amity asked nervously. It was hard to bring Luz down. And Amity hadn't seen her like this sense Eda was nearly petrified.</p><p>The human looked at her girlfriend with tears in her eyes.<br/> "Oh, it's nothing" she sniffled. "It's just that-"<br/> Luz's breathing became choked as she held back a sob. Amity's heart cracked as she sat down behind her and wrapped her arms around the crying human.<br/> "I haven't charged my phone in a few days, So when I plugged it back in, I- I got an alarm."<br/> Luz turned around and threw herself into Amity's shoulder.<br/> "I was supposed to go back home yesterday. My mami's going to be worried sick and I didn't even realize I was supposed to be back."<br/> The two girls pulled each other tighter.<br/> "Don't worry Luz. We lost a whole week of our lives, it's not your fault that you lost track of time."<br/> Luz simply sobbed harder. "That's the problem Amity. It is my fault! Every day I think about home less and less. I wouldn't even had known I was supposed to go back if I couldn't charge this thing."<br/> Amity wasn't quite sure what to say. Dozens of thoughts raced through her head. Eventually, she managed to take a deep breath and settle on the one she thought was best.<br/> "I'm sorry, Luz. But I promise we'll find you a way home."<br/> The human simply sniffled at the promise.<br/> "That's another thing. I- I don't think I want to go back."<br/>Amity was taken aback. She pulled away from Luz and stared her in the eyes. "What?" is all she could ask. Surely she miss-heard her.<br/>"Don't get me wrong-" Luz began. "I miss my mami, and I feel terrible for leaving her like that. But honestly? I didn't have anything else in my world."<br/>Amity's mouth was starting to go dry. "But what about friends and family?"<br/>"I never had any friends in my world. And honestly? My extended family are a bunch of jerks."<br/>"I'm... I'm sorry you had to go through all that."<br/>Luz stifled a chuckle.<br/>"Don't be. Things are different now. I have Eda, Willow, Gus, and you. I mean something in this world. Even if I could go back, I can't just cast all this aside."<br/>While the humans mood seemed to raise briefly, it quickly went back down as she lowered her head to her hands.<br/>"I just wish I could give Mami some closure. Let her know that I'm safe and happy. I just... don't want her to worry about me."</p><p>All Amity could do was pull Luz back into a warm embrace. The human returned the gesture and buried her head back into Amity's shoulder, letting out the last of the waterworks<br/>before heading to the bathroom to get changed.</p><p>The window had long sense been repaired. But it didn't matter anymore. When Luz got back, Amity was waiting under the covers for her.<br/>Luz crawled under the blankets and into Amity's arms. Despite everything that had gone down sense they got home, sleep came swiftly and gently. Promising whatever dreams came would be an oasis from it all.</p><hr/><p>A large figure lay atop the roof of the Owl House above Luz and Amity's window. A single tear shed as the two young girls spoke.<br/>The figure lied their, contemplating as the two girls drifted off to sleep. Once the two of them where firmly in the land of dreams, her eyes shifted. Now resembling a kaleidoscope of pure color.<br/>As she stared off into space, her eyes continued to constantly shuffle and change. After a few minute, the figure seemed satisfied as she closed her eyes, re-opening them to reveal much more normal eyes with a bright pink iris.<br/>"Ah, my champion" she smiled to herself as she sat upright. "The fates smile apon you. You'll have the reunion of your dreams in time. But for now, allow me to ease your aching heart."<br/>As she stood up, her cloak began to unfurl into a set of wings. Four long, purple apendages now sprung from the figure's back, Each seemingly a giant flower petal.</p><p>The figure soon took to the skies, each wing releasing a powerful gust of wind with every flap. After a few moments, a brilliant golden glow enveloped her as she vanished in a flash of light.</p><hr/><p>Luz woke up to a dry mouth, probably from all the crying she did last night. She gingerly crawled out from her girlfriends arms so she didn't wake her.<br/>Amity let out a small whimper as she did so, but didn't stir. And so, with her girlfriend soundly asleep, Luz started down stairs to get a drink...<br/>Before promptly falling face-first into the floor.</p><p>"Luz?" Amity sleepily asked as she woke up from the loud thump.</p><p>"I'm fine" Luz said as she rubbed her head. "Just tripped on something"<br/>The human looked over to see what she tripped on and saw a small wooden crate, no larger than a mailbox.<br/>as the two girls crawled over to the box, a label on top caught their attention.<br/>"To Camila Noceda. From Luz Noceda"<br/>"That's my address..." Luz said as she read the rest of the label.<br/>The human was starting to get teary.<br/>"do you think...?" She asked.<br/>"I think it's worth a shot" Amity muttered.</p><p>The human pulled the crate open looked inside.</p><p>"Looks like it's enchanted" Amity remarked. "We can fit a lot of stuff in here."<br/>Luz was starting to choke up. Just last night she was wishing she could give her mother closure. And now here she sat, with a crate that may be able to let her do just that.</p><p>"What do we put in it?" Amity asked.<br/>Luz stared into the crate. It's interior was vast. Luz wasn't sure she could even fill it up really.<br/>"I, uhhh... Everything, I guess"</p><p>And so, The residents of the Owl house spent the weekend gathering gifts and knickknacks to send to Luz's home. Trinkets, food, everything that would be appropriate to put in a care package, and then some.<br/>Luz finished the weekend by filling her phone with recordings. Explaining all her adventures, introducing her friends and found family. Nearly everything that Camila might want to know. Luz just hoped it would be enough.</p><p>As Luz lay her phone to rest in the crate, Eda placed the lid back on and pressed it down.<br/>"Now what?" the older witch asked.<br/>As if on queue, the top of the crate lit ablaze with a purple fire, As it burnt, a glyph was etched into the wood.<br/>Amity swallowed. "Is that what I think it is?"<br/>Luz simply nodded. She wasn't certain, but the glyph before her definitly felt like the one that had started this whole ordeal.</p><p>"Are you sure you want to do this kid?" Eda asked.<br/>"I'm sure. I can't- I can't let my mom suffer any more than she has too."<br/>And with that, Eda nodded and summoned Owlbert to her side. Titan knows what this could cause.</p><p>Luz took a deep breath and grabbed her girlfriend's hand. As she pressed her other hand into the deep purple scorch marks of the glyph, a golden light shown from underneath the crate.<br/>Within a moment's notice, dozens of vines sprang up and wrapped themselves around it. Pulling it deeper and deeper into the light.<br/>Once the crate was entirely submerged, the light flickered out, and the vines began to bloom into the usual rainbow-colored Nyartholillies.</p><p>"guess we shouldn't have done that on the table" Eda deadpanned as she began to pull away the vines.<br/>Luz let out a deep breath she didn't know she was holding. She pulled Amity closer to herself. She hoped from the bottom of her heart that the care package found it's way to her mami.<br/>"I'll see you again one day. I promise."</p><hr/><p>Camila sat down after a long day of work. Nursing was never easy, she knew that going in. But it's been getting harder and harder with each passing day.<br/>When Camila stopped receiving texts from Luz, She knew something was wrong. And then when she contacted camp and learned that <em>Luz never even arrived</em>.<br/>Well, She didn't take the news well, to say the least. She was <em>definitly</em> going to have a lengthy conversation with Hal when she saw him again.</p><p>As she stared deeper and deeper into the photos of her and Luz, a brief knock at the door snapped her out of her stupor.</p><p>"Unless you're here with news about my mija, you can do me a favor and-"<br/>Camila stopped once she realized that there was nobody at the door. Instead, a small wooden crate sat on the ground, and her blood <em>froze</em> when she read the label.</p><p>Camila grabbed the package and rushed inside. Reading the label over and over again to make sure she wasn't hallucinating.<br/>"To: Camila Noceda. From: Luz Noceda"<br/>Camila probably should have been concerned by the emblem that was burnt into the wood, but she didn't care. Acting quickly, she grabbed a crow bar and pried the crate open.<br/>After opening it, she reached in and nearly slammed her head into the wood when her arm went way farther in than she anticipated.</p><p>"What the?" she asked herself.</p><p>She gingerly reached in again, being a bit more careful this time. Yep. Alright, it was definitly bigger on the inside.<br/>The first item she found was familiar. It was Luz's phone, a bit more cracked than the last time she saw it, but still Luz's phone.<br/>Whatever the home screen had been before, It had sense been replaced by a simple white screen with the words "LOOK IN THE GALLERY" written upon it.</p><p>In the gallery where several hours of videos. And Camila didn't recognize the people or places in the thumbnails. Gingerly, she clicked on the one titled "WATCH ME FIRST".<br/>After buffering for a few moments, Luz's face appeared on screen wearing a sad smile.</p><p>"Hi mom. I'm sorry I couldn't make it home on time. And I know you're worried sick about me, but-I"<br/>Luz began to choke up over the other side of the phone. Camila's heart cracked at the sign of her daughter so distraught.</p><p>"I should start from the beginning".</p><p>And thus, Luz explained everything, how she got there, how she learned to do magic, how she had to destroy the portal in order to keep Camila safe, and how she may or may not have sold her soul for magical powers.</p><p>"I miss you mom. I really do. But honestly? I don't know if I can go back anymore. Even if I could"<br/>Camila's eyes began to tear up as she watched the screen.<br/>"You know I didn't fit in back on earth. But here? Things are different. I have friends, I'm popular in school, I mean something in this world! I even found love, as ridicules as it sounds."<br/>Camila wiped away her tears. "Oh Mija. I'm so proud of you." she said to herself.<br/>And she meant it. Even if sending Luz to that horrible camp was an ultimatum from Hal, she still held hope that her little Luz would be able to make some real friends there.<br/>And to here she did that all without going to that awful place? It was more than her heart could handle.</p><p>"The rest of the videos on here should guide you through the care package, along with giving you a tour of this place. I love you, Mami."<br/>Camila stared at the blank screen a moment longer. Luz was safe, which is all that mattered. And Luz was happy, which was even better. As much as she missed her daughter, she wouldn't want to just pull her out of her new life.<br/>Camila closed the video and went to look at the other videos, curious to see what all Luz had to say.</p><hr/><p>"And this is Hexside school of Witchcraft and Demonics! I ended up enrolling here a few weeks after I arrive. And it's really fun! In fact, there should be a copy of my report card in there."<br/>Camila rummaged around a bit and found what she was talking about. The paper was rough and sturdy, and it showed that Luz, despite not having any magic of her own for most of her enrolment,<br/>Managed to consistently get Bs and As. A much better track record than she had at home.</p><hr/><p>"And these are Jell-eyes." Luz said while holding a jar of dismembered eyeballs. "You can pop them into your mouth whole, Or you can squeeze them to rupture the cornea and spread the jelly on stuff.<br/>The red ones are apple blood flavored, the green ones are fear pear flavored, and the yellow ones are sintron flavored!"</p><p>Camila tentatively grabbed a red eye and squeezed it onto her finger. As expected, the flavor reminded her a lot of apple cider, but with a small kick to it.<br/>Despite what it came out of, Camila found herself quite enjoying the exotic treat.</p><hr/><p>"And this is my girlfriend Amity" Luz cried as she pulled a green-haired girl into the frame. "We got off on the wrong foot, but it worked out in the end."<br/>Camila smiled. Whoever this girl was, she seemed nice, and she was glad that her daughter had found someone she cared so much for.<br/>"Her and her siblings have actually been living here at the owl house for the last few weeks, sense their mansion burned down with their parents inside."<br/>Camila felt a pang of sadness before Luz continued.<br/>"ahhh, don't feel to bad though. Her parents... where not good people. It was probably for the best in the end."<br/>Camila's sympathy turned to confusion. How bad where her parents if it them dying was a good thing.<br/>"Yeah," Amity spoke up. "They... probably would have incinerated Luz on the spot if they found out we where dating."<br/>Ah, so that's how bad.</p><hr/><p>"And these are bonefruit seeds. They're actually a lot like plantains, just with a much harder "peel".<br/>I don't know if they'll be able to grow in your world, but if they do, The trees should grow fairly quickly."</p><p>Camila looked at the small group of seeds in her hand, they where small and spiky. The woman would have assumed them to be some kind of toy before taking them as seeds.<br/>"Oh, also" Luz continued. "If you start finding <em>actual</em> bones around one of the plants. Dig it up and burn it as soon as you can. Those mean the bonefruit is rabid and carnivorous."<br/>Camila shuddered. She wondered how a tree could catch rabies. But it was getting pretty late in the season anyways, so she'd worry about that in spring.</p><hr/><p>"And this is a tentacle pot pie. Despite the name, It's really good. I don't know how long the statis seal will last in the human world, so I recommend eating it quickly."<br/>Camila looked at the simple to-go box and broke the band binding it. Inside was the pot pie as Luz described, and it and still looked and smelled like it had come straight out of the kitchen.<br/>The human realized that she hadn't eaten dinner yet, so she took the pie out of the box and sat down with it and a fork.</p><p>The pie itself looked... normal, really. The crust was crust, the vegetables seemed like normal human vegetables. The only real difference where the large chunks of purple and green meat.<br/>Camila carefully took a bite and found that the tentacles where... actually really good. They had a mild flavor that reminded her a lot of beef, and they where incredibly soft and delectate on the tongue.<br/>Camila soon realized just how hungry she was and began to dig into the pie, all while watching the rest of Luz's videos.</p><hr/><p>As Camila finished the last of her daughter's messages, she couldn't help but smile to herself. Her daughter may have been stranded in an alternate universe.<br/>But she had never seen Luz so happy, so free, even.</p><p>"I miss you, mija. But I'm glad you found a place you belong." And for the first time in months, Camila lulled off into a gentle slumber.<br/>All her fears and worries washed away.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0009"><h2>9. The Twins</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Wow. This chapter was hard. I don't know why, Given that it's not even that long. But it was. But it's done now. So yay.</p><p>In addition, because this fic is almost over, I decided to scratch an itch and start up another project. That one should be coming out today once I finish proofreading it, so be ready for that.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Things had mostly gone back to normal at The Owl House. The Blight children where still living there, but with the two missing girls back home, and Luz no longer having the crushing guilt of lying to her mom on her shoulders, things where really better than ever.<br/>
At the current moment, Edric and Luz where together in the living room. Edric practicing both Beastkeeping and Illusion magic, while Luz continued to refine her glyphs. She may have her own magic now, but it was still limited, and the Clawthorne sisters where still dry.<br/>
As the Blight's eyes darted back and fourth between his homework and Luz's glyphs, a thought occurred to him that, should it work, would be really, <em>really</em> fun.<br/>
"Hey Luz, do you think we could teach Giovanni how to use glyphs?"</p><p>The human's eyes sparkled at the idea. The Clawthorne sisters had been making great progress on their glyphs, but if she could teach a lizard to do them, well. It would just be awesome.<br/>
The two quickly got to work, Luz explaining how glyphs functioned and how to use them, and Edric relaying that information to Giovanni with his bond.<br/>
After about half an hour, the Mirage Lizard seemed to get the concept. It reached it's tail over and tenderly touched one of the light glyphs. As the scaly hand made contact, the paper holding the glyph crumbled up into a ball of light.<br/>
The two teens cried out in excitement and pride.<br/>
"Nice job, Giovanni" Edric said with glee. But the lizard wasn't done yet. Oh no.<br/>
After taking a close look at the slips of paper, Giovanni focused as his scales along the tail palm began to shift. After a moment, he successfully managed to form a light glyph on his skin. And with a snap of the finger, a second small orb floated up from his hand.</p><p>The two witches in the room could only gawp at what Giovanni just did.</p><p>"Well damn" Edric finally spoke up, "You're smarter than me!"</p><p>The three of them practiced for a few more hours, teaching Giovanni glyphs and different applications of them. The lizard was particularly fond of using the fire glyph to warm himself.<br/>
As the night grew long, they eventually retreated to their bedrooms.</p><p>"Hey Edric" Emira greeted him as came through the door. "I got some Salamander chilies at the market today. Do you wanna go stick them in the humidifier in the girl's locker room at school?"<br/>
"No thanks, Emira." Edric deadpanned.<br/>
"C'mon. It'll be fun!"<br/>
"I said no thanks."<br/>
"Just imagine how itchy all the girls will be once school starts"<br/>
"I SAID NO!" Edric finally snapped.<br/>
"You always do this too! Forcing me to do things that I don't want to do, and then making me take half the fall."<br/>
He was visibly fuming at this point. Breathing heavily and with a bright red face.<br/>
Emira took a step back, she had never seen her brother like this.<br/>
"I'm sleeping down stairs tonight." he finally said as he grabbed a pillow and blanket and left back through the door.</p><p>Emira didn't sneak out that night. She didn't plant the salamander chilies in the humidifier, and she also didn't get much sleep. Her brother's words echoed around her head.<br/>
She thought of all the times she talked Ed into a prank or bit of mischief that he was a bit apprehensive towards. And, well. She thought of her parents. How they would often do the exact same thing to her and her siblings.</p>
<hr/><p>Edric and Emira mostly avoided each other the next day. Nobody was quite sure if the tension of last night's outburst was still there, or if neither twin was ready to acknowledge it yet.</p><p>"I'm spending the night at Viney's." Edric revealed as the sun started to wane in the sky.<br/>
"Wait a minute." Eda said before he could head through the door. "Are her parents home?"<br/>
"She said they where out for buisness. Why?"<br/>
"Alright. Have fun kid. But don't repeat my mistakes. Got it?"<br/>
Edric's face went flush and his mouth dry when he realized what Eda was talking about. He nodded profusely before heading out the door and towards his girlfriend's house.<br/>
"I'm going to head out too. We're running low on Elixir and groceries." Eda remarked as she summoned Owlbert to her side.<br/>
"Can you get some more dye while you're out?" Lilith asked as she ran her hair through her now-orange roots.<br/>
"No" Her younger sister smiled. Truth be told, she really missed Lilith's dark orange hair. Even if she didn't admit it.<br/>
"Smell ya later Lily!" She cried before her elder sister could protest.</p><p>As Eda flew away and Lilith leaned back into her seat, the gentle sound of footsteps entered the room.<br/>
"Can I talk to you, Miss Clawthorn?"<br/>
"Ofcourse, Emira. But please. Call me Lilith"<br/>
As she sat down across from the elder of the Clawthorn siblings, Emira took a deep breath as she braced herself for the inevitable.</p><p>"Am I a bad sister?" she finally spat out.</p><p>Lilith stared at the girl in some combination of shock and surprise.<br/>
"I understand your concern, Emira." she began. "But I must be honest, I'm probably the worst person in this household you could ask that."<br/>
"It takes one to know one, right?"<br/>
"Fair enough. Regardless, what led you to that conclusion?"<br/>
"Edric..." Emira said hesitantly. "Called me out. He said that I'm always making him do things he doesn't want to do, and always making him take half the blame."<br/>
The girl was visibly tearing up at this point.<br/>
"And he's right! What kind of sick, twisted sister am I do to those things to him. I'm as bad as mother..."</p><p>Lilith was a good listener. Being the leader of the Emperor's Coven demanded it.<br/>
On the flip side, she wasn't particularly good at showing physical affection. And Unlike Eda, she didn't have a small human to teach her it.<br/>
Regardless of that though, she still tried her best to comfort the poor girl, placing a hand on her shoulder in sincerity.<br/>
"Trust me Emira, You're nowhere near as bad as your mother. She would convince people that they wanted to do something, and then made them take all of the blame if it didn't go well."<br/>
Lilith carefully wiped the tears from the girl's eyes before she continued.<br/>
"But to answer your question, just because you've... Forced, some things onto your brother doesn't make you a bad sister. You still care for him, you still took responsibility for your actions,"<br/>
<em>and you didn't spend decades hunting him like a wild dog.</em> she bitterly thought to herself.</p><p>"Maybe you're right." Emira admitted. "But I still did it. There's gotta be a way to make it up to him, right?"</p><p>"Possibly. The first thing I learned when moving into here is that forgiveness isn't something you can ask for. It's entirely up to the person you're dealing with if amends can be made.<br/>
In general, however. I would suggest taking your brother's feelings into consideration more. And perhaps find a hobby to distract you when Edric disagrees with your plans."</p><p>"A hobby might be fun" Emira agreed.</p><p>"I'd look through Edalyn's trash piles. She hordes so much stuff you're certain to find something in there."<br/>
"Are you sure? That's Eda's stuff and I don't want to-"<br/>
"It's alright. I promise" Lilith interjected. "You're family now Emira. All three of you. I promise you that Eda won't mind in the slightest. And if she does, I will take full responsibility. alright?"<br/>
"Thanks, Lilith. Really" Emira smiled. With a clear conscience, she stood up and went to go look through Eda's many, many, many "storage" rooms.</p>
<hr/><p>"C'mon, there's gotta be something in here"<br/>
Emira had been searching through the trash heap for nearly an hour at this point. She found plenty of neat trinkets, but nothing that could be considered a good hobby.<br/>
As she opened yet another box, something finally caught her eye.<br/>
"Why the fuck not?" she asked herself as she grabbed the set of needles and yarn.</p>
<hr/><p>"I'm home!" Edric called as he arrived the next day.</p><p>"Welcome back kid. There's makeup in the bathroom."</p><p>Edric tilted his head at the elder witch, who proceeded to gesture vaguely to her neck.<br/>
The Blight's eyes widened immensely as he clapped his hand over his own neck, hiding the Hickey marks he had forgotten about.</p><p>As he dashed upstairs to the bathroom, he slammed the door behind him and quickly applied a bit of powder to cover up the red blotches.<br/>
Once he was satisfied with his work, he grabbed his bag and went to his bedroom where Emira was... Knitting?</p><p>"Emira what the fuck" Is all he could say as he set his bag down next to a sleeping Lizard.</p><p>"Hey... Ed"</p><p>"What's wrong sis?"</p><p>Emira took a deep breath</p><p>"I'm... sorry. About everything. About making you do things you didn't want to do, and about making you take half the blame for it. I can't ask for forgiveness. But I can promise I'll be better"</p><p>Edric did his best to muffle a scoff (he failed.)</p><p>"Jeez, calm down Em. You're acting like you cursed me or something like that."</p><p>Emira blinked at her brother's response.</p><p>"In hindsight, I guess asking Lilith for advice really wasn't the best idea. huh?"</p><p>"Ya think? come here you!" Edric said as he pulled his twin into a hug.</p><p>"If you're going to do better, then I see no reason not to forgive you."</p><p>"Thanks. Edric."</p><p>"Now then." her brother continued. "What's up with the knitting needles?"</p><p>"Lilith suggested that I pick up a hobby. And knitting supplies where the only thing I could find in Eda's junk pile."</p><p>Edric let out a small laugh. "can you make me a scarf?"</p><p>"I can definitly try"</p>
<hr/><p>Emira had spent the last month refining her craft, and to be perfectly honest, she was quite proud of how far she had gotten.</p><p>"Hey Ed, Do you wanna go goblin tipping again?"</p><p>"Nah. It turns out that doing that's actually really bad for the Goblins"</p><p>"Wow, You're actually paying attention in class?"</p><p>"I know right? Anyways, I told Viney I'd help her out with Puddles's checkup today. See you later!"</p><p>Emira waved her brother off as she finished her latest project. Once she was satisfied with the craftsmanship, She placed it down and cast a quick spell circle to create two neatly wrapped gift boxes.</p><p>"Hey Lovebirds!" She cried as she went downstairs to wear Luz and Amity where vibing on the couch. "I made you two something"</p><p>Both of them quirked there eyebrow at the sudden gift. As they opened them, Amity covered her face from what would surely be a prank. But when she opened the box, nothing popped out, or made a mess.</p><p>She was still hesitant to look into it, but the excited gasp from next to her changed her mind quickly.</p><p>Inside the box was a pair of mittens, Knitted to have Luz's face on them. And when she looked over to her girlfriend, she saw that Luz had an identical pair, only this one bearing Amity's face.</p><p>"These are incredible Emira!" The human gasped excitedly.</p><p>"Yeah. Wow. did you make these yourself?"</p><p>"Yep. Only used magic to dye them."</p><p>"That is... Wow. Thanks Em."</p><p>"Don't mention it, Mittens"</p><p>Amity's face went flush at the sudden revelation about why Emira made these, but even her fury couldn't stand up to the genuine sincerity that was put into making them.</p><p>"I wouldn't dream of it."</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Feel free to point out any typos I made. No reason to not fix them.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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